


Blue Magic

by Annonymousie



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: spoiler warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-23
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-03 00:25:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 43,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5269598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annonymousie/pseuds/Annonymousie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At Sans's behest, you hit a hard reset after being above ground for six months. It's hard to imagine how things went awry the moment the monsters started another war. Yet your perfect world crumbled in a matter of days. Subsequent timelines aren't filled with Toriel's pie or Sans's puns, but rather a genocidal training until you can barely remember how their love feels anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Down the Rabbit Hole (Again)

Down the Rabbit Hole (Again)

Sans remembers what you did. Even on the surface, he watches you closer than a hawk watches her clutch. You know what you did, even though you couldn't help it. However, it was proof that you were their main protector now. You're stronger than anyone here, given the right determination, and it seemed that the only one who remembers in that timeline is Sans. You fought him over and over again until the inconceivable happens-he falls asleep. You're strong now. You know how strong you can be. Even without Chara domineering your body, it remembers Chara's movements just as well. Dodging, parrying, jumping...you know how every song and dance goes. Sans was the worst, and you fought him again and again just to get his moves down perfectly. He knows that. And even when you did? You loaded your save and kept going. It was practice. In a twisted sort of way, you were practicing to be better with every save; and there was nothing Sans could do to stop you but go along with it.

Your eyes flicker over to him and you can feel his rage almost seeping through his bones. You didn't kill Sans back in the Judgement Hall, and he seems almost bitter about it. You finally had him within your grasp. A few steps and a swing of your arm and he would have been yours. But you didn't finish the job. Instead you stopped, placed a hand on his sweaty head, closed your eyes, and reset. The hardest fight was over, finally. He resents you for that.

"You don't have to follow me," your voice is a level above a whisper. You still hated talking. "I'm not going to do anything."

Sans does the Sans thing and shrugs.

"i just happen to need to go the same direction you are."

You shrug it off. He's not going to leave you alone anytime soon. It doesn't matter. You didn't fight him all those times for your sake. Actually, the better reason why Sans is mad is because all the monsters used to be above ground. When Asriel broke the barrier, everyone spent six months above ground and then you were forced to reset. Sans doesn't remember that. Sans doesn't remember begging you through a mouthful of blood and Papyrus's dust covering his coat.

You won't remind him, though. Or try and convince him that it was actually his idea to have the hard reset done. He'd never believe you.

Sticking your hands in your pockets, in almost mock imitation of Sans, you continue your trek up the mountain. Sans had followed you on the bus the entire way to the remote stop on the outskirts of the last village. Then, for the past few hours, he was always no more than three paces behind you.

Clenching the straps on your backpack, you lean over and pick up a stick to help you keep your balance for the rest of the steep journey up the mountain. The clearing was somewhere, you knew, you just had to remember where.  
Shuddering in the early winter breeze, you keep at least one hand stuck deeply into your pocket and bury your nose in your red scarf wrapped at least three times around your neck. With darkness falling so quickly, you're left with minutes of the sun's warmth left to keep away the cold. But you had something important to do. Your only chance at keeping everyone safe was to go back.

Looking back at Sans once again, you see him smiling as broadly as ever. It's almost unnerving but you say nothing. It's not worth getting riled up over. He's just trying to protect the people he cares about. Even if, in this timeline, that doesn't include you. It meant that you were just another thing that can be tossed aside. You were dispensable.

"so how 'bout the human winters, huh? cold?"

"Barely begun." You murmur quietly and look back ahead. You don't want to force any conversation with Sans. It's already awkward, no reason to force the issue.

Coming to a dead stop, you look down at the massive crater before you and set down your pack. Sans looks curious now, as you take out bundled up yards of rope that you had hauled all the way up the path. Eventually, you reach the end with five bundles of thirty five yards of rope and begin to unravel them. You send one end down the crater as you unroll the bundle and then, when you reach the end, you tie it off to another rope and begin the same process. You repeat it until you're finally out of rope and then you go to tie it around the nearest tree. Securing it with multiple knots, you give it hard tugs to reinforce it until you're satisfied with the result.

"what are you doing?"

Sans is worried. It's almost laughable, you think. This entire timeline, he had so bitterly hated you even when you got all the monsters out again that you thought your friendship was over. But with his reaction now...

"Asriel is still down there...he's not Flowey anymore." You say quietly, "and he hasn't turned into Flowey even after he returned all the souls. So..." You put on an old pair of leather gloves that you found in your old home and smile at Sans.

"I'm going to get him out of there."

And so you begin to slowly lower yourself into the giant hole that would lead you to the ruins. Your small arms are strong from so much battling and training. Even Undyne was impressed with you when you went to your last training session with her. "For a tiny human, that is." She smiles her large, goofy smile and you can't help but smile as well. Hers were always, always contagious.

"kid."

You look up at Sans and see him sweating. He's not looking at you, though. He's looking down at what used to be his home. He hates it down there.

"are you sure about this?"

You nod and continue. Yeah, he's worried.  
What a goof. All this time, you were so worried that he so deeply hated you, and he must have just a little bit, but the situation was somehow proving that he still cared about you somewhere deep inside.

"does your family know where you are?"

Oh. That's right. You didn't go to live with Toriel in this timeline. You thought it better to live back at your home where you could prepare for what was to come. Where the family that once was no longer resided.

"Yes."

You lie quietly. Sans is almost straining himself to hear you now, leaning into the crater to look at you now. He can see the determination etched in your face and he knows that you're not going to stop no matter what.  
Deeper and deeper you go until all you can see is your breath on residue light shining down from above. Shivering, you feel your muscles burning hot from strain and you hope that you're almost at the end. Were the golden flowers still blooming this time of year? Especially so vulnerable to the open...

The rope thrums dangerously. Your head snaps up to see a bright blue light and the next thing you know, the rope snaps and you're sent spiraling down towards the ground. You hear someone yelling your name but it's deafened by the white noise that fills your head when you hit the ground. The rope that was above you falls on top of your body and you can watch the blue magic for a while longer before you black out.


	2. Still Alive

Still Alive

Gentle hands are tending to your head. Groaning, you try to sit up but feel your wrist and head explode in a shower of pain.

"Howdy, Frisk! Why are you down here?"

Asriel. His touch was definitely as gentle as Toriel's. You blink a few times and notice that the once bed of golden flowers are now withered and pallor in color.

"I came...t'getchu..." Your head aches something fierce. Raising your hand to at least get some semblance of the damage, you press it to the sorest part and retract it. Blood covers it. Well, what'd you expect?

"I'm sorry, Frisk..."

You wave your hands vigorously. "It's not your fault." You reassure Asriel with the largest Undyne smile you could muster and then hear a thud behind you.

"frisk!"

Looking back, you see a sweaty Sans running over to you. Blue magic is receding off his body and you know that he had to have used that to make it all the way down. After all, someone with one hp would never have survived that fall...right?

"Howdy, Sans!"

Sans immediately freezes up. He knows it's Flowey, yet...not.

"yo."

Sans notices the blood coming off your head and his eyebrows knit in worry.

"you alright, kid?"

You go to nod but feel dizzy at the slightest movement so smile and give him the thumbs up. Sans frowns and grumbles something incoherent before looking up at the cave.

"there's a good reason why none of us went up that way..." Sans begins and watches as Asriel helps you stand. Cradling your wrist close to you, keeping an almost pleasant pressure on it, you let Asriel dab at your head with a small handkerchief that he had on him. "we're going to have to go out the old fashioned way."

"We can't." Asriel's voice is soft. He speaks in a low, broken tone that affirms to you and Sans that he tried. Sans scratches at his head and an idea comes to mind.

"you...uh...won't like what i'm about to say..." He's not even sure about what he's going to say. But you've a strange feeling...

"Toss me up."

"you? no, i'll throw tori's kid up and he can tie the rope."

"I don't know how to make knots..." Asriel's on the verge of tears as he twists at his handkerchief. "I'm sorry...I'm so useless..."

No.

Your arms wrap around him and you hug him tight. Obviously, he had way too mcuh time to think about everything down here. Sans looks at you with a frown and sighs. "and what's wrong with the barrier now?"

"I p-put it back up! I don't have enough power to take it down again!" He's bawling now in your shoulder and you continue to pat him. It sounded like he wanted to keep himself in. There's no other reason.

Earning a deep grumble from Sans, you pull away from Asriel and give him a final pat on the shoulder and offer a smile. It was going to be okay. All of you were getting out, no matter what.

"signal us when you get up top, okay, frisk?"

Uh oh. He used your name. He was NOT a happy camper. Nodding, your heart felt heavy and the heady taste of blue magic ladens your tongue. Sans picks up the rope, ties it around you, and then rests his hands on your shoulders.

"you ready?"

"Yep."

"i've been waiting a long time to do this."

"I know. Hit me with everything you've got. I can take it."

With a grin, Sans lifts you a few inches off the ground and you see his eye change color.

"I know."

Air whizzes past you as you shoot straight up into the air. The cold bites through your skin and tears streak down your cheeks. You can't tell how fast you're going, but the sudden stopping jerks your whole body forward and makes you dizzy. From way down in the pit, you can't even make out your two friends. They're completely swallowed in the black abyss. But Sans knows what to do. Your body suddenly flings all the way to the right and then suddenly disappears from your body altogether. Letting out a yell, you soar through the sky until your body slams onto the ground and you roll a few times until you slow to a stop.

You don't know how long you were out for, but the crisp, dead leaves are sticking to the side of your face and your wrist is throbbing with such a hot intensity that you feel like you're about to puke. Moonlight lights up the area, and you're now hyper aware of the cold. Shivering, you stand up and walk over to a nearby tree and undo the rope around you and retie it to the tree. Like before, you gave it a final few tugs, satisfied with your work, and then tug it in the opposite direction. Slumping back against the tree, you see the rope grow taut and you're satisfied. Asriel's getting out now. Closing your eyes, you let out a shaky breath and peel the sticky leaves from your cheek.

Sans was fighting something up here earlier...

You open your eyes and find large, thorny vines torn to shreds all around you. So the magic was starting to get to work already...

You can't give up yet. Everything hurts, but you have to get back home, now. Just a little rest, though, wouldn't hurt anyone. Right?

Letting yourself relax, you close your eyes once more and hear soft snow beginning to grace the old, dead things around you. It was going to be a great day for a snow day tomorrow, you think. Heck, you could even play with Asriel in it. Did he even know what snow is? Has he ever seen it before?

Toriel would be beside herself with joy. And Asgore, too! They didn't live together, but would Asriel be enough to bring them back together?

Heh. Toriel's home would definitely not be yours as well, now. It was the Dreemurr's family, only. You were still just the human here. The hated human who hit reset on a dystopic timeline.

Hearing the grunts of trial belonging to Asriel, you're brought back awake and stand up woozily. You were going to be fine. It was mind over matter, now. Sheer determination. You were going to finish the job. Bring Asriel home.

Extending your good hand out towards the small kid, you smile and haul him backwards with one mighty heave into you. Asriel leans over his legs to pant and uses you as a support. He's not used to hard work like this. He was a magical monster, not a physically strong one. Behind him was Sans bearing a serious expression. You need to lighten the mood.

"Y'look b-bone t-tired."

Oops. Maybe you're the one bone tired.

"we thought something happened. you didn't give us any signal at all."

"Took a breather." You reassure him. Man. You picked up a few things about being dodgy from him after so many fights. He didn't like it. Oh well. At least now he knows that you don't like it either.

"well...let's get out of here. i know a short cut."

You grin from ear to ear and take hold of Asriel's hand. He looks up at you, finally, and lets out a gasp. Taking hold of his handkerchief, he dabs away at the sticky substance, blood, as you walk. It was going to be a great day.

"Wait."

You remember something in your pack. Taking it off once again, you open it up and pull out a long purple sweater and hand it to him. His face lights up like a Christmas tree and he quickly slips it on and settles in the warmth.

"Okay. Now we're ready."

Asriel did his best to clean you up, but his hand was shaking so badly that you had to tell him to stop and get it together.

"Are...my parents mad at me?"

"Nope." You smile, feeling as if dead weights are attached to your legs. You turn down a familiar alleyway and end up in front of Toriel's house. It looks much like her house in the Ruins, but smaller.

Holding steadfast, you give Asriel a gentle push forward, but he clings onto you for dear life.

"I'm scared..." He whispers. Nodding ever so slightly, you keep hold onto him and cross the street to Toriel's. To...mom's...heh. You won't be able to call her that again, either.

Sans follows closely, still, so you try and keep your emotions as rigid as possible. He knew you and Toriel were extremely close before, and so he must know now that you're not here to stay in this timeline.

Approaching the door, Asriel hops from one foot to the other and looks at you with such childlike wonder that you can't help but smile. You used to have that look, too. Before you murdered hundreds of monsters. Before Chara took over you and made you murder hundreds of monsters.

"Go on." You urge him. He strains a smile and raises a knuckle to the door. It hovers there for what seems like an eternity before you knock for him. She knows your knocks by now, so rushes to the door. It opens in ten seconds and the next thing that happens sends a deadly chill running up her spine.

"As...riel...?"

Asriel's hand leaves yours and he's sobbing around his mother's neck now. "Mom! Mom! I missed you so much!" And it's your turn for your heart to wrench. You missed her, too. You missed her so much and you want to hug her too and...

You keep your emotions in check. It was their time.

"I gotta get home. I'll call you when I get there...my parents might be worried."  
You lie and shove your hands in your pocket with the toothiest smile you can muster. "Be good, Asriel."

Toriel chokes up and tries to call you back, but she couldn't pry herself away from her son long enough to do so. Taking that opportunity, you scramble away as fast as possible and walk up to Sans with a broken-hearted expression. He can tell. Duh.

"alright, kid. just this once, since you're being all nice an' all."

"Thanks, Sans."

You're tired and just want to get home and cry and sleep. It was such a relief to be back in the city, but you have no one to go back to at home. You'll fix it all after the attacks, but not before. Now, you have to give Asriel his time to adapt to the Overground life and rediscover his compassion.

Sans leads you down an alleyway and you're now standing in front of your apartment complex. Reaching into your pocket, you pull out a small golden-colored key and begin your trek up the stairs.

"why'd you do it, kid?"

You look back at Sans with beaten eyes and shrug.

"It was another timeline, Sans...I had to fix it."

"all the way?"

"It was the only way."

You can recreate all the events so clearly. Sans covered in dust and blood...blue magic filling the air...the screams masked against the roaring fires in the smoke-filled sky. Destruction wrought upon mankind all because of one thing they never accounted for. Asriel being himself.

"i don't know if i should believe the kid that murdered everyone."

"It wasn't me, Sans..." You speak to the skeleton with the all-blackened eyes. He doesn't believe you.

"I did spare you. That's all I did."

"lucky me."

Yeah...lucky you.

You open the door and march all the way up the steps and slump straight into bed, passing out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos!


	3. Best Mom to Ever Mom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna space these out because my story is already up on ff.net, but yanno, let's go. Posting them all now.

Best Mom to Ever Mom

You held your arm as blood trickled down from your shoulder and pooled under your feet. You were so weak, here. Papyrus was protecting you from the onslaught of Pyrope's flames but even he couldn't stand up to the attacks of the magic-enhanced monster. You were so timid, here. Undyne had been lain out on the ground beside you, unconscious, and it was up to Papyrus to get the two of you out of there. Believe it or not, he was doing a fantastic job of it, too.

"HUMAN! CAN YOU RUN?"

"Undyne...hasn't woken up."

Papyrus dodges a flamethrower and it ignites a nearby car. It's his turn, now, and he sends hundreds of bones towards Pyrope and reduces him to dust. His expression shifts from determined to saddened and then he turns to Undyne and gently picks her up.

"LET'S ESCAPE NOW."

You nod breathlessly, following the tall skeleton closely. His long strides begin to leave you far behind and you call out to him, trying to catch his attention to no avail. You call out again, and it's drowned out by a whistling noise. Three seconds later, about ten blocks away, debris and ash rise up from the ground. The area is obliterated by a bomb.

"PAPYRUS, WAIT!"

He turns to you, and you can see Undyne beginning to rouse awake. She's bleeding pretty badly. Her blue blood is seeps out of her mouth and nose and you can tell that she's no longer in any shape to keep up with what any of them were doing.

"HURRY!"

Another bomb drops. It's even closer now. Papyrus looks worried beyond belief and he waits begins running towards you. You look down at why you're going so slowly all of a sudden, and realize that you've blood oozing out of your thigh from what looks to be like a piece of metal jutting out. Your head swirls from seeing the blood and you fall to your knees.

Another bomb goes off in the monster quarter. Papyrus tosses Undyne over his shoulder, apologizing profusely, and scoops you up in his arm.

"NOW WE LEAVE, HUMAN."

Now we leave...

The doorbell ringing over and over and over again startled you awake. Your breathing is harsh and ragged and you can't get over the nightmare.

Well.

Memory.

Getting up off the bed, you notice your sheets are covered in blood and your backpack is still on. You sling it off your shoulders, remove all your outside layers, and kick off your boots as quickly as you can before going to open the door just a crack.

"FINALLY!"

Papyrus.

"WERE YOU ON THE TOILET, HUMAN?"

You shake your head. He never actually grasped the concept of basic human bodily functions.

"FANTASTIC! THEN YOU ARE ABLE TO JOIN ME AND UNDYNE AT TRAINING THEN?"

Really didn't grasp the concept of the toilet.

"Um...I can't..."  
You murmur, feeling your head swirl again. If you open the door any more, you know that he's going to see the blood that you still haven't had the time to wash off.

"I'm going out with my parents soon..."

"HOW NICE! WE SHOULD GET ACQUAINTED! THEY WOULD DEFINITELY LET YOU TRAIN WITH US RIGHT NOW, THEN!"

You shake your head no, earning a look of concern from the tall skeleton.

"WELL...WE ARE ALL GOING TO TORIEL'S HOUSE AFTER FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL. YOU SHOULD JOIN US!"

"I'll try." You smile and wave him off. You felt horrible about sending him off, but you there was no helping it. Your apartment was empty, your bed bloodied, and you were definitely not feeling well after last night.

You decide to shower up and change your bed. Maybe some food would help give you some energy. You look down at your throbbing wrist and know that it's at the very least sprained. Broken, most likely. But sprained, definitely.

Dressing in clean clothes, you feel a little better. Definitely more grounded. You go into the first aid kit and pull out an ace bandage and wrap it around your wrist. At least it'll help somewhat. And, taking your cues from Sans, you pick out a hoodie and pull it way over your wrist. You go over to your bed and stick all the sheets in the washer and poured in some of the detergent, you're not sure how much you needed, and turned the machine on. Okay, one more thing to do and-

Your cellphone pings. You sit on a stool, taking the moment to break, and look at it.

"yo."

It's Sans.

"?"

"did u see tori yet?"

"No."

There's a prolonged silence and you're about to get back to work. It takes five minutes for the next message.

"she and asgore have been asking for u."

You shrug sadly. You don't want to see them right now. They're probably going to shower you with love and praise and you can't afford to break right now. You're on a mission, and the moment you break out of character...the moment you allow yourself to deter from your mission...

"I've been busy."

The next message is instant.

"no one has heard from you in the past 2 days."

"Papyrus came by earlier. My parents want to go out soon."

Silence. You make toast while you wait for Sans's text back. It's almost eerie for him to be checking u on you. He hates you. To an extent, sure. But he doesn't particularly enjoy the fact that you reset time.

"k"

You don't even unlock your phone to answer that. It makes you sad, but more upset that he actually took the time to sass you. You want to tell him that he made you reset, but you can't bring yourself to. It'll make things awkward.

"Sorry."

You text back, frowning deeply. There's no reply after that. You just have to suck it up and visit the Dreemurr family, then. You can't afford to make it too suspicious.  
Your phone blips again, and this time, your heart sinks deep into your gut.

"Frisk? Sans told me that you are hurt. Are you well? -Toriel"

No...no, no, no...why would he do that?

"I'm okay."

Oh no. She's learned to text faster...

"Do not lie to me, Frisk. Asriel told me that you fell and hurt yourself, too. Are your parents taking care of you?"

"Yes. Everything is OK. I am fine."

The toaster popping up scares you half to death in the silent apartment. You pick out the peanut butter and spread that over the toast and something unsettles you. Your phone has been too quiet. Toriel would normally be blasting it with texts if she thought something was wrong.

"I'm outside your apartment. Open the door."

Your face blanches. You run to the window and see Toriel's car parallel parked against the curb and her standing at your door. She catches a glimpse of you and gives you the stink eye. You're about to have a bad time.

You rush down the stairs and open the door as quickly as possible. Everything is clean. There's no way for her to suspect anything.

"Hm."

Oh god...she's mad.

She eyes you up and down, taking in everything, and frowns deeply.

"C-come in. My parents aren't home..."

"I'm sure. I'm not naiive. Look at me, Frisk." You do so, determined that you actually look well. But she doesn't buy it.

"You're very pale. Your lips are cracked. Your arm is bandaged. Sloppily, I may add. You are not well enough to be left on your own. I must speak with your parents."

Uh oh.

"They...they're coming back only tomorrow..."

Your knees turn to jelly as you realize that your previous lie has now been thrown out the window with this new one. Her face lightens up, though, and then she takes you by your hand.

"You get to stay with us, then! Wonderful. Gather your things, we're going to leave very shortly."

And just like that, you're riding with Toriel in her car. The heater makes you sleepy, and you almost doze off a few times, but the car slipping on patches of snow here and there awakens you instantly.

"I'm glad you decided to come along."

You force a smile in her direction. You knew better than to fight with her. She was the scariest mom to ever mom.

"Me too."

"I don't like you staying home alone when you are not well."

You nod, woozily, and drift off. She lets you sleep.

"Frisk, my child...Frisk." She gently nudges you awake and you groan, feeling your body hot as if it were on fire. "We're here."

You yawn and stretch, groggy and ready to go back to bed. But she ushers you out of the car and into the house as quickly as possible. It's when you're inside that Asriel lunges at you and sobs in your arms. You smile and hug him back, quickly noting that he already began adopting the Dreemurr house smell-cinnamon and flowers.

"Let's see...I just have a pie to make. Can you two set the table for the guests? Frisk, only if you can."

"Mom, Frisk has a broken wrist, I think! And head."

"Heads don't break..." You whine back at Asriel, now knowing that Toriel was about to check you over. The moment she touches your head, you let out a yelp of pain and blood trickles down your neck right away.

"This is not even tended to! I will have words with your parents..." She grumbled angrily and brings you to the kitchen. She seats you on the chair and storms out to pick up the first aid kit. You throw Asriel a dirty look for just a moment and then sigh. You can't be mad at him.

"A-are you okay?"

"Yeah. You?"

He nods and you smile broadly at him. Yeah. It was all worth it.

"Alright, let me look at this again."

She pushes her glasses onto her face and moves your hair around to find a large scab that looked as if it would rip open at any moment. Frowning, she grabbed the peroxide and began dabbing at it with a gauze. You wince but the feeling of her fingers through your hair relaxes you immensely. It was the feeling you were afraid of. The love that was going to break you.

With your eyes closed, she continues caring for it until the bleeding comes to a stop and she's satisfied with how the wound looks now. She then grabs your wrist and unravels the bandage and takes a look at the swelling.

"Did you ice this?"

You shake your head, feeling tired all of a sudden. She clicks her tongue and with cold magic, she cools off the swelling with her paw. You're relaxed to the point where sleep will definitely come easy and she notices this.

"Will you take a nap before supper?"

The question almost surprises you. She loves you. It was a fact that became distorted somewhere around a hundred reloads ago. With a small smile, you nod.

"I don't like sleeping alone at home..." You confess, her heart melting instantly and she wrapped her large arms around you. You close your eyes and hug her back, taking it in. You love her too. You just don't want to have to fully reset again and lose what you have. It was so hard last time...  
And then is when you begin to understand Sans and his lazy approach towards everything. He just doesn't care anymore. It had to be almost second nature at this point. You become so focused on everything that you distance yourself from everything.  
Even the things you love...

"You are still a child, Frisk. Please, do not forget that. You know your room. Go and sleep a while."

She kisses the top of your head and watches you head off, dragging your feet behind you. You head up the stairs and wonder about your sheets in the wash for the next few days and the now-cold toast on the counter. You'll deal with it next time.

"Oh, and Frisk?"

You stop and look down at Toriel, her smile sweeter than sugar cane. You gulp.

"Do not lie to me next time, little one."

"Yes, ma'aam..." You continue to bed and snuggle in under the large covers. This was comfy. Better than your apartment by a zillion times.


	4. Too Good at Keeping Promises

Too Good at Keeping Promises

Asgore has a hold onto Undyne and is running with a horde of little monsters behind him. They are all headed towards Mt. Ebott. It's a while away, but the locals are gunning anyone trying to leave through the roads. The only other option that they have is to head back to their old home.

"I-I can stop thuh...them..." Asgore shushes Undyne as she tries to speak. She's too bent out of shape to do anything at all. Your leg, you notice, has been bandaged up and you're hiding behind a car. The pain is unfathomable. It actually makes you black out for moments at a time.

"ALPHYS!" Undyne screeched. She screeched. Your eyes light up with the reflection of gunfire opening up on Alphys. It's almost hard to believe. She stood there one moment, and the next, bits and chunks of her sail backwards and she almost disappears as a whole. What's left of her...

God...

What's left of her?

You wake up in a cold sweat and shaking. Alphys...

That was so many timelines ago, you actually had time to forget that...she...

No. This is why you're here now. This is why Asriel is here.

"nightmares bothering you? they never go away. especially if you kill others."

You jut out your lower lip and close your eyes again, trying to ignore him.

"well? what was it?"

"Another timeline."

You mumble, hoping to satiate his curiosity. But it isn't enough.

"not that i care, but what happened."

If he knew, what would he do? The idea seems almost enjoyable to you, but you know better. And anyways, you want to sleep a bit more.

Sans wasn't leaving though. Sighing, you open your eyes again and sit up. Your head swirls but you push past it.

"You don't remember anything from that timeline."

"i remember every one."

"Not this one. I...killed you in that one. You remember every timeline where you weren't killed."

Sans goes quiet now, but you can see his blue eye light up. He's angry.

"You asked me to..."

"impossible. you just weren't happy...were ya?"

"It's not like that." You interject immediately, he barely getting a chance to finish his sentence. Taking in a deep breath, you continue. "You asked me to make you forget the only way I knew how. And, well...that's how."

You hate talking so much, and it seemed like you were doing so much of it lately.

"I...everyone dies in that timeline...and they will in this timeline...Sans...we need Asriel...that's how I knew he was alive. We're about to have a war...you know the thorns you fought?"

It dawns on him.

You nod and frown. "Monster magic."

"that's impossible..."

You go to shake your head but vertigo grips onto you. Waiting for it to pass, you frown deeply.

"Everyone dies...there's so much blood and dust..." And tears wrack your body now. You hide your face in your hands and let it all out. Alphys's body tearing apart before you; Undyne slowly dying an agonizing death; Papyrus fighting valiantly for your survival...

"kid..."

"I'm so sorry."

He lets you cry as much as you want, but you gather yourself as quickly as possible by holding your breath and letting it out shakily.

"so why reset? i cared about our last timeline here."

"I can't tell you..."

You whisper through hiccups and lay down again, drawing the sheets over your head. You can't, really.

"there's no good reason, kid. none at all. you corrupted a timeline because it satisfies you. no matter what happened, there is never a good reason. you just wanted to play god, didn't you?"

There we go. The spiteful Sans. You don't even look at him.

"but, hey...what use are my words to you? after all...you can still do as you like, right? no consequences. nothing to stop you. not even the people who love you."

"It's not like that."

You bolt up, flushed in the face and actually sort of topple over from the suddenness of it. Gathering yourself, you look into the empty skeletal smile and then notice that he baited you so hard. Anger welled up inside you for a split moment and then dissipated. It was Sans. He knew how to get under your skin, for sure. He was good at that.

"it is. you can deny it as much as you want, pal, but the truth is, only you can hit reset. and you did. so obviously you don't like what you had. good food? bad jokes? friends? they meant nothing in your grand scheme of things, oh god."

"You...don't know, Sans."

"so tell me."

"You asked me to."

pling.

Your heart, now outside of your chest, has turned blue, and you're suspended in the air. Your eyes widen and you watch helplessly as your vision dances in front of you. Sans slides from side to side and then he really moves from side to side as he shakes you vigorously.

"now, something tells me i can't believe you on that."

Fear makes your jaw clench shut and your muscles tense up. You know how this goes. He'll smack you around until you lie to him, and then he'll say something stupid like, "ha...i knew it" and walk out of your life.

Everyone already did.

His magic jolts you up and down, side to side, and front and back until you feel so sick to your stomach that you gag a bit. That's when he sets you down on the floor and you stay, unmoving, for a while.

"i'm giving you one last shot to explain yourself, kiddo."

You remain quiet in your curled up ball on the ground. Your vision swirls and you're fatigued almost to the point of blacking out, and the blood loss wasn't helping. Sans lifts you up one final time and drags you toward him, staring at your defeated eyes and glaring at you.

"i'm trying to care, here. i can't afford not to."

Your eyes close and you let out a breathy sigh, hanging your head. It's no big secret. You just can't afford to lose him as a friend. But...he's already past that point, isn't he?

"It was a monster war...and everyone dies...Papyrus...you...Undyne...Asgore, Toriel, Alphys? Everyone dies...even the guys from Grillby's."

His magic wanes from you now; and you slump over in his arms as he catches you midfall. You hate how weak you are now. But looking up in his eyes? His wide, pin-needle eyes that looked so far ahead? He's remembering something.

"The barrier Underground breaks when Toriel dies. Some monster is let loose and...that's why he's here...I had no save point from Underground...so you asked me to fully reset."

He holds you tighter as your vision begins to darken and your body begins to shut down on you. Maybe you aren't even standing on your feet anymore, but you don't know that. Everything just hurts right now.

"Papyrus dies protecting you...and you can't take living in a timeline without him anymore..."

Tears prick your eyes as you remember his death. Their deaths are all still vivid in your mind. It's been your diving force for everything up to date.

"I grew stronger to protect you all...I'm sorry, Sans...I..jus'...can't keep m'eyes..."

"yeah. just rest, kid. it's alright."

Your eyes close and he scoops you up in his arms and lays you in bed. He presses his hand on your burning hot cheek and guilt surges through him. He went too far to get answers from a friend. It's actually pretty shameful. You went through more than he realized, and his repayment to you was smacking you around when you're already pretty weak.

Sans brings a hand to his face and drags it down with a sigh. He had to believe you. The information was too accurate for it to be made up.

"i'm sorry, kid...all this time, you've been the one apologizing...and it's been me who's needed to say sorry all along..."

"SANS!"

Papyrus's voice is heard from way across the other end of the street. He doesn't stop running towards his brother when a bomb starts falling out of a plane and straight for the smaller skeleton. Papyrus lifts his hand straight up in the air, left eye smoldering orange, and brings his arm backwards so that Sans is sky-rocketing straight for him. Papyrus was truly shining, here. Amidst the mess of blood and dust, he was the only one who truly seemed to be able to have his act together one hundred percent.

With open arms, Papyrus catches Sans and in the same movement, turns his back towards the explosion that goes off behind him. The two are cast forwards, but the mortality of the explosion rolls off of Papyrus's back and Sans is spared the worst.

"SANS!"

Papyrus yells his brother's name again, and this time, Sans opens his eyes to see the pained expression on his brother's face. His eyes widen at the sight of several large cracks running criss-cross on Papyrus's skull. "pap..yrus..." Sans's hand reaches up to touch one of the cracks, but Papyrus is already beginning to fade to dust.

"NO!"

Sans shoots up and takes hold of Papyrus's shoulders, trying to shake him out of his stupor. But when his brother doesn't move, Sans knows it's too late for him. Papyrus begins to fall over from his kneeling position and Sans sees exactly what did his brother in. His entire backside was missing. His clothes are completely torn to shreds, and his bones?

God, his bones had either fallen into his body cavity, or the explosion had shot them elsewhere, but they were no longer there.

"papyrus...no..."

"Don't forget...to pick up...your socks..."

Papyrus's voice is quiet. Not loud. Not even semi-loud. It's actually a hushed whisper, and Sans hates it with every bone in his body. With a final smile, and a forced 'nyeh-heh,' Papyrus's bones crumble up and fall to the ground in a dust heap.

Sans doesn't say anything at first. His hands shake as he picks up Papyrus's cape. It's too surreal for him at the moment. His brother couldn't be...

"papyrus...?"

When it hits him, it hits him harder than the bombs ever could. He keels over and starts laughing. But as you watch from behind the low-cement wall, you feel your heart accelerate.

The laughing skeleton goes from deep, hearty laughs to low and somber sobbing. With a broken heart, Sans buries his face in his brother's cape and starts murmuring something you can't hear. But when his eyes open, and he stands up suddenly, you know that this man has a plan.

"frriiiIIISK! WHERE ARE YOU?"

And that plan involves you.


	5. Everything is NOT Okay

Everything is NOT Okay

Toriel's paw feels like an anvil on your forehead. You try and brush it away, but your small hands are no issue to your strong surrogate mother.

"You are warm, but I am unsure if it is a fever. How do you feel, my child?"

You can feel her soft voice wrap itself around you and you easily fall prey to it. How can't you? It's mom.

"Tired."

Your mouth mumbles the words, and you vainly hope that she'll hold you in her arms like she used to do in another timeline and tell you old monster stories from when she was a little girl. But she doesn't. You don't bother asking, either. You're strong now. So long as you have a bed, time for yourself, and access to a medicine cabinet (which you do at your apartment), you can clearly take care of yourself. You learned how over the constant resets and reading from books at the Snowdin library when no one was around to stop you.

"Would you like some water?"

Your mouth, you realize, is as dry as the rocks in Hotland, so you nod. She smiles, kisses your forehead, and leaves to get your water. As she opens the door, you hear the crowd laughing and having a good time from down the corridor. It makes your gut sink. You want to be there with them, but you can't manage to get over the constant vertigo assaulting you.

"Frisk!"

Asriel pops into view and bounds over to you. Behind him is Asgore trailing closely. You sit up and can't help but grin. All jealousy in your gut dissipates and you throw your arms around Asriel the moment he's close enough. He laughs in your ear and hugs back as tightly as his tiny body can muster.

"You're missing out! Everyone's watching this really cool show called...uhm..."

"It's Mettaton's new game show."

Asgore fills in, Asriel pulling back and smiling so broadly at you that you think he's maybe sprung his muscles in his cheeks. You look up at Asgore and feel a little small under his gaze. But his gaze? It's pride. He's so proud of you. Blushing a bit, Asriel scooches up beside you and lays his head in your lap in such a childlike manner that you can't help but rest your hand on his head. You remember you and Toriel doing the exact same thing in another timeline, and you hate yourself a little bit more for resetting. You missed out on so many memories and small gestures that it hurt to think about it.

"Come with us? We'll kick someone off the couch and you can go there and watch it with us. C'mooon, Frisk..."

His big, round, watery eyes plead with you and you cave. There's no way you can say no to him. So with a heartfelt smile, you nod and he bolts so quickly that you narrowly miss his horns colliding with your chin.

"Yes! Alright, let's go!"

Toriel chooses that moment to walk in with your water. Giving Asgore the stink eye, she turns to you with her loving smile and hands the glass to you.

"Mom, Frisk is going to join us!"

"That is wonderful, my child. Will you, Frisk?"

You finish your water and nod with a smile. Toriel smiles softly and presses kisses on your forehead and Asriel's before turning to walk out of the room.

"Asgore, help Frisk. I'm going to cut a piece of pie for everyone."

"Of course."

Asgore had been doing an uncannily amazing job at ignoring Toriel's cold stares and venom-voice that you wonder if she's ever used it before they married. She must have.

"Alright, let's go!"

Man, he was jolly. Asriel hopped on one foot and then the other before reaching over to you and yanking hard on your good hand with a laugh. You nearly fall out of bed but, as small as he is, he catches you in a hug and then forces his way out of the room with you in tow.

A small wave of sadness washes over you for a moment. Were you once this excitable?

"IT'S THE TINY HUMAN!"

Papyrus's voice booms the moment you enter the living room. For some reason, he's standing on top of the sofa's armrest posing. Opposite to him is Undyne...posing as well.

"FRISK! Who has the biggest muscles?! NO LYING!"

Oh. Even Undyne heard about your eensy weensy teeny tiny ittle bittle little white lie.

"Uhm..."

Your voice catches in your throat for a moment and it takes Asriel's over-exuberance to make up for it. He jumps up on the sofa and flexes both his arms, his cheeks and chest puffing out as he does so.

"It's me, right?!" The room bursts out in laughter and for the first time in a long time, you do too. It feels like such a relief. Small tears form at the corners of your eyes, you laugh so hard, and eventually everyone is staring at you. You wipe at your eyes and let out a few small chortles to try and contain the rest of your laughter but everyone is still staring at you.

Yeah. This is what you were trying to protect all along. It's hard to think about it when you're killing them, though. Not you, technically, you you let it happen, didn't you?

"So? Who is it!?" Asriel asks impatiently, and you smile from ear to ear and shrug.

"I'm the strongest, obviously."

The deeper meaning doesn't escape Sans at all and you feel your gut chill over. Sans lets out a cough, drawing attention to himself, before pointing to Papyrus.

"i've seen Papyrus training recently. he's gotten much stronger."

"It's true!" Undyne exclaims, "but not as strong as I!"

Your heart jolts. Sans sees it in your surprised expression. Of all the things you've accounted for, the last thing you'd think of is one of them getting stronger than you are right now. It'd mean that all of your progress that you've made so far...

"man, papyrus is so strong, i've started learning how to dodge his attacks waaay faster!"

He's baiting you. Again. Biting your lip, you watch Sans speak to the general crowd but it's definitely aimed at you.

An idea forms in your head.

"Hey, Papyrus, can you train me sometime?"

Sans nearly trips on your words. Undyne is in an uproar and is shouting at how much stronger she is but you can see the joy twinkle in Papyrus's...socket. He stares at you for a moment and then strikes his heroic pose once more, laughing his signature 'nyeh heh heh' laugh.

"I KNEW THIS DAY WOULD ONE DAY COME, HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAS A RIGOROUS TRAINING REGIME FOR YOU TO FOLLOW SO THAT YOU TOO, ONE DAY, CAN BE AS GREAT AS I AM!"

"I'd love that."

You smile and can feel Sans's eyes train onto you. He's not too happy that you pulled the ol' bait and switch onto him. That's his gig, after all. You throw him a mischievous smirk his way and make your way to the couch beside Alphys. She had been quiet the entire time but you know that it was only because she had been ogling her girlfriend's muscles the entire time. You give her a tiny wave and she ruffles your hair in turn.

Asriel rushes over to you and plops down heavily on the last free spot beside you. He rests his head on your shoulder and kicks his feet back and forth as he watches the TV intently. You rest your cheek on his head as well, careful of his mini horns, and felt his head swim a bit. He was still tired, and the little game between him and Sans wore him out just enough to make him want to sleep more.

Through half-lidded eyes, you watch Mettaton dance back and forth amongst a monster audience, not even hearing what he's saying, and pointing to different people.

Everyone in the room eventually finds a place to sit and watch the show. It's such a trivial thing, but if it was to support a friend? They would do it whole-heartedly. You doze off here and there, but Asriel's shouting at the TV wakes you up periodically. It isn't until Asriel begins falling asleep against you that Asgore decides to call it a night and pick the two of you up in his arms.

"Time for bed."

"Mettaton isn't even done..!" Asriel whines, rubbing his eyes and lets out a mighty yawn. You rub your eye and cling onto Asgore tightly, your heart feeling lighter than usual. Asgore looks down at you and, without warning, places a kiss on your forehead. Surprised, he shrugs and does the same to Asriel. The young Dreemurr returns the kiss on his father's chin and laughs a bit.

"Do you have to call your parents, Frisk? Let them know where you are?"

You shake your head no, earning a frown from the large man.

"Frisk...we will have to meet them one day, you know. We love you."

Asgore stops short of the bedrooms and gives you a stern look. You return the look with a bashful smile.

"We want to know that you are safe where you are and well taken care of. It is not so much to ask, don't you think?"

You shake your head no. It wouldn't be if you knew where they were yourself. But you didn't have that leisure.

"So, when they return tomorrow, we will meet them."

They, as in Toriel and Asgore, were going to be more than disappointed to find out the truth. That you lived in a cold house and lived off of what you could so that you could better prepare yourself for a war. How the heck could you explain that?

"They...don't like monsters."

His facial features darken. That was definitely the wrong thing to say.

"But they don't know about you!"

Darker yet.

"We will speak tomorrow, Frisk. It is bedtime."

You nod and let him set you down first so he can steer you into your room. He tucks you in with a small kiss and closes the door gently, letting you settle in under the sheets. From the room over, you can hear Asriel demand a bedtime story and Asgore is only too happy to comply.

You close your eyes and ball up, remembering the Toriel stories once more. Her favorite was about the little human falling down the crater in the sky and appearing in her home. It was your favorite story, too.

"do it."  
You stand over Sans with your signature knife in your hands. You don't remember where you've gotten it from, but it's in your possession now.

Sans looks completely empty inside. Papyrus's cape is tied off around his arm and Sans is covered in so much soot and dust that his blue coat had taken on an ashen color. Tears, thick, pearly tears leak down his face as he looks up at you from his knees. Behind you, a large blaster path from the bottom of the mountain path all the way to the crater has been cleared out; and you can only assume it belongs to Sans. You blink a few times, trying to reorient yourself in the memory.

Ah. You know what comes next.

You look at the crater and see a militia of men storming the peaks from the other side. Gunfire hails openly among the waves of monsters trying to escape into the mountain and you watch emotionless. It's not the first time you see this. Nor the second. This dream has plagued you so often that you can count down the seconds to what happens next.

"TORIEL!"

Asgore's voice was drowned out by more gunfire. He was lowering the monsters into the pit as safely as he could, but it was Toriel who actually took the humans head on. Her magic struck several of them backwards and the gunfire was then turned on her. Your eyes widen as you watch bullet after bullet tear her apart, but she fights on. She's trying to stall for time.

Asgore wants to abandon his charge, but even as he shakes, he knows that Toriel is doing what she can so he can actually do what he was doing now.

"MOM!"

Your voice escapes you before you can stop it. You want to rush forward, but Sans grabs you by your ankle and he's trembling like a leaf in the winter wind.

"reset. end me and reset. i need to be with papyrus here. he needs me."

You look at your knife and then look back over at Sans.

"please. reset it."

He begs you, letting his head hang. You look back up at Toriel just in time to see her body tumbling off the ridge and into the crater. You and Asgore both let out a cry and you try and run. It's Sans's blue magic that fills you and brings you back to him.

"kid, you can fix this. you're the only one who can. fix it, frisk. reset it. go back and do it all over and find what to fix."

His begging is tearing at your heart all over again. You'd much rather he be fighting you than actually begging you on his knees.

"but please...end me so i can be with my brother. do that first. i'm so tired, frisk. you'd be doing me a favor."

You don't want to. He takes hold of your hand with the knife clenched tightly inside and uses his magic to bring you close. You let out a cry and he stops, burying his face in his hands and sobs uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, Sans...I'm so sorry..."

"just.. do what i said and i'll forgive you." He sobs. You look at him with furrowed brows and close your eyes. With a yell, you push your knife into his chest and fall to your knees. You press your forehead against his and join him in his sobbing. He places a hand around your head and nuzzles your forehead a bit.

"I'll save you all next time...I pr-promise..!"

"thanks, kiddo. i won't forget...this..."

Yes you will, you think. And just like that, he turns into a pile of dust under a blue coat and red cape. You dig out the garments and let out an anguished yell.

It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the darkness. You look around and notice that in your hand, you have a long carving knife in your hand. Gasping, you drop it immediately and take a few steps back.

Steps?

You look around and find yourself somewhere odd. It isn't Toriel's house, but you aren't home either. You're in...

"You f-finally awake?"

Off to your side you can barely see Sans sitting on the ground holding onto his chest.

"S-Sans..?"

Oh no...

You rush over to him, your hands hovering over him. Your heart is beating a million miles a minute. What the hell happened? How'd you get here? Why were you in the brothers' house?

"PAPYRUS!" You scream out, clutching onto your head as you watch Sans breathing laboriously.

"PAPYRUS, HELP! PAPYRUS!"

You're hysterical at this point in time. You just killed Sans in your dream, in your memory, and now you killed him here?

"PAPYRUS!"

You screech, hearing clattering from upstairs.

"PAPYRUS, PLEASE! HURRY!"

Sans smiles. He can only smile. But you can tell you really, truly hurt him. He's not doing well.

"PAPYRUS, PLEASE!"

You're definitely hysterical. Your entire body is trembling and you want to do something but fear paralyzes you to the spot. You feel yourself beginning to hyperventilate and then the next thing you know, Papyrus is beside you and somehow managing the situation better than you could ever imagine.

"SANS! WHAT HAPPENED?"

He takes one look at you, looks over at the knife, and then back at Sans. He's not dumb. Papyrus definitely pieces together the bits of information and quickly scoops his brother up in his arms. Wordlessly, he brings him to the couch and fetches the first aid kit. All the while, you stay in your crouched position, clutching your head, trying to figure out what happened.

You can't recall.

Oh god, you can't recall what happened. You let out a strangled sob and want to go over to Sans but your feet are glued to the ground. Papyrus returns and quickly gets to work on his brother.

"THIS IS JUST LIKE OLD TIMES, EH, SANS?"

"yup."

They were trying to joke about it, but you're a mess in the corner of the room. The knife is too close to you and you want it to vanish.  
Finally, you manage to stand up and step by step, make your way over to watching distance. Your entire body shakes as you hold onto your sides. Your breathing is still uneven and you're dizzy, but you watch anyways. Papyrus concentrates on the wound and lets out a gasp as blood oozes into a large pool on Sans's white t-shirt like red tie-dye. The sight of it returns you into your crying fetal position.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...I don't know...I don't know what happened..."

"EVERYTHING IS A-OK, HUMAN. FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, KNOWS EXACTLY HOW TO CARE FOR INJURED BROTHERS. ISN'T THAT RIGHT, SANS?"

"yup."

"REASSURE THE HUMAN, SANS."

"be reassured, kiddo."

"THAT'S NOT HELPING."

Papyrus finishes doing what he does, you can't tell from so close to the ground, and he then makes his way over to you.

"ACCIDENTS HAPPEN!"

You don't even know if it's an accident. Sans hops off the couch, sweat falling from his brow, and holds onto Papyrus's patchwork.

"thanks, bro."

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

"we were playing pirates and it got out of hand. sorry to wake you up."

Papyrus crosses his arms and gives Sans a stern, annoyed look.

"NEXT TIME YOU PLAY PIRATES, YOU BETTER USE SAFER SWORDS. YOU ARE LUCKY I WAS HERE."

Papyrus's eyebrows furrow together and you look up at him with tearful gasps. Papyrus pats you on the back a few times and then hugs you.

"DON'T CRY, FRISK. YOU HAVE DONE WELL TO CALL FOR HELP. SANS DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF, AS USUAL. SO IT'S ALWAYS UP TO ME TO TAKE CARE OF HIM FOR HIM."

Frisk. Wow. He never calls you by your name. Him calling you human was actually endearing. He was really trying to reassure you by using your name here.

"I WILL TAKE YOU BACK TO TORIEL'S NOW."

You nod and let him take your hand and lead you towards the door. One look at Sans and you can tell that he's more upset than he's letting on. His entire composure is slackened and he's not actually mad with you. It's something else. Something you haven't seen in a long time from him. He's sad.


	6. Love & Determination

Love & Determination

The ride with Papyrus is a quiet one. You hiccup every so often and try to recompose yourself before you reach Toriel's house. You can't afford for too many questions to arise. Not when you didn't even know yourself what happened. The drive between houses is about a twenty minute ride. It isn't far, but far enough if you go by foot.

Papyrus's phone goes off and it startles the two of you. He takes a moment to catch his breath and then digs it out of his pocket and hands it to you.

You shake your head no, but he already clicks it open and gives it to you. Before you can say anything, you hear Toriel's perplexed voice on the other line.

"Papyrus, is Frisk with you!?"

"H-hi..."

"FRISK?"

You feel tears welling in your eyes and begin to sob all over again. Papyrus gives a small sigh and pulls over to the side to take the phone from you.

"HELLO, TORIEL! IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I HAVE THE TINY HUMAN HERE WITH ME! I AM BRINGING HIM BACK RIGHT NOW! NO, I AM NOT DRIVING. PLEASE BE REASSURED THAT FRISK IS WELL."

And with that, Papyrus hung up. A brave move. No one should ever dare come between a mother and her child.

"FRISK."

You look up at Papyrus with wide eyes and sniffle, your face cracking in two as you hold back sobs.

"FOR SUCH A TINY HUMAN, YOU SURE DO HAVE GRAND EMOTIONS!"

You wipe at your eyes with the back of your sleeves and cry harder. Everything was so much harder in this timeline. Papyrus's eyebrows furrow together and he takes his cape off from around his neck and goes to tie it around your neck.

"LIKE THIS, YOU CAN FEEL SUPER, JUST LIKE ME! NYEH HEH HEH!"

It's covered in dust from your nightmare and you hold it tightly to your cheek.

"I'm sorry, Papyrus...I-I'm so-sorry..."

"DO NOT WORRY ABOUT IT. THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR!"

He puffs out his chest and puts the car back into drive, pressing forward into the night. Your sobs start to die down and you're left completely exhausted by the end of it. When you pull into the driveway, Toriel is outside already waiting for you with a look of concern deeply engraved into her features. She doesn't even wait for Papyrus to turn the car off when she flings the door open and pulls you out; hugging you with all your might.

"What happened? Where'd you go? Why'd you leave?"

"GOOD EVENING, TORIEL. FRISK IS HOME SAFE. HE WAS PLAYING PIRATES WITH SANS AT OUR HOUSE."

"Frisk?"

Her heart sank and you bury your face in her shoulder, shaking your head.

"I MUST GO BACK HOME, NOW. SANS NEEDS ME TO BE THE OLDER BROTHER AGAIN TODAY."

"Thank you, Papyrus, for bringing Frisk home."

"ANYTHING FOR A DEAR FRIEND. GOODNIGHT!"

As Papyrus drives off, you let out a strangled sob in Toriel's shoulder and swallow a large lump in your throat.

"Frisk?"

"I had a nightmare...a-and I think I sl-slept walked to their house."

She shushes you and brings you in before you can get any colder outside. Asgore sits in the kitchen, hands covering his mouth as he watches you and Toriel, and goes to move towards you but Toriel shakes her head. You need mom right now.

"Let us see what happened, my child."

She speaks softly and enters your room. Asgore is peeking from around the corners of the hallway to see exactly what's going on since Toriel is bent on the two of you having alone time.

There's a small chill as you enter your room, and Toriel notices that your window is open a small crack.

"Aha, the culprit. You did sleep walk, then. You went very far, little one."

With one hand, she pulls the window back into place and hinges it shut.

"We'll find a proper lock for it tomorrow."

She assures you. You nod and clutch her closer. You don't want her to leave. Not yet. She sits down on the bed with you in her arms and she hums a small song, rubbing your back in small circles.

You didn't know that your soul could still slip. Or something inside you snap. Worst yet, you don't know how you hurt Sans. You either had to be really good in a fight or you took him by surprise. Either one made you sick to your stomach. The genocidal days were over. This timeline was fresh and new and offered you a chance to pacify all your past wrongs. But the last thing you expected was for all your training to bite you in the butt.

"Are you sleeping, my child?"

Toriel whispers quietly. You let out a small snore and shake your head no. Close, but not there yet.

She doesn't let you go, though. Her nails gently scritch through your scalp as she runs her fingers through the tangles in your hair. One of her eyes open just enough to see Asgore peering inside the room and shying away from Toriel's gaze.

Your eyes slowly close and you become aware of Papyrus's cape around your throat tied with love and unconsciously clutch onto it. Toriel's lullaby ends on a low hanging note and you let yourself sleep away the nightmare.

Toriel is patient, but not as much as everyone likes to believe. She's sitting in her chair and trying to read a book about garden slugs but her eye is constantly flickering between the driveway, you sitting quietly on the sofa with your nose buried in your phone, the same paragraph she went over at least five times now.

You're bundled up with your knees brought close to your chest as you wait for a call from your parents that would never come. Your hand plays with the cape that magically chased away all your nightmares for the rest of the night. You had to give it back, though. Papyrus's cape meant a lot to him.

Ding.

Your phone nearly falls from your hands as the loud tone plays signaling a text. Toriel's eyes look up at you from her book and she closes it gently on her lap, keeping a finger inside the crease to bookmark her page.

"hey"

"It's Sans." You murmur, earning an irritated 'tsk' from her as she goes back to her book quietly. It's three in the afternoon and you're more than ready to go back home to the peace and quiet. It wasn't preferable, but it was easier to not have to deal with so many emotions in front of people.

"Sans I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I was at Toriel's and then I woke up in front of you. I don't know what happened. What happened?"

Oh no. Your nose burned. You can't cry.

Your phone sings again.

"will tori let you out of the house to go to grillby's 2?"

You look up at Toriel and flash her a smile. She is not amused.

"Not right now. She wants to meet my parents."

"great idea. id love to meet ur parents too."

A long exhale of breath escapes your nose and Toriel is eyeing you from above her purple glasses.

"Sans...wants me to meet him at Grillby's..."

"Did you tell him that I am to meet your parents finally?"

"Yes..."

"Did he wish to join us instead?"

Her voice is stern and unwavering. She wasn't going to budge from this idea. So now the entire thing boiled down to waiting her out or telling the truth and being let out to go talk with Sans.

Toriel quietly puts her book down and picks up her phone. You look at her curiously and then watch her change from the phone back to her book and smile contentedly.  
Slinking back into the couch, you stare at Sans's text and try and figure out how to respond. If anything, he deserves the right to know.

"Sans..." you can easily type his name, but the next part is hard. "...you know I don't live with my parents in this timeline, right?"

Your finger hovers the send button for a few seconds. He and Toriel were really close. There's no way that he'd let you live on your own while you wait for a potential war to happen. Frowning, you begin hitting backspace.

"Frisk!"

Asriel tackles you and your finger slips across the screen to a jumble of letters and, with a gut-sinking knowledge, the enter button.

Putting the phone down for a moment, you smile and pat his head. He grins and keeps his arms around you.

"Dad says we're going to meet your parents soon! Is it true? Is your mom prettier than mine?"

You offer him a small, painful smile. She was...pretty...but that's all she had to her. Her looks. She wasn't really a parent to you.

Shaking your head no, Asriel giggles and looks back at his mom with the broadest smile ever. You look up at Toriel and blush a bit, seeing her trying to keep her gigantic mom-smile hidden behind her book. Of course she would be pleased.

Your heart is thundering in your chest and you want to look at your phone ever so desperately. You need to see what actually managed to get sent to Sans.

"And your dad? Is he stronger than mine?"

"No way."

You laugh. Your dad is...strong...but Asgore is powerful. Your dad knew how to break things. Asgore knew how to shape things.

"What about any brothers or sisters?"

For a moment, you stare at Asriel and see him still burning with questions, but your phone has been silent for too long.

"Aren't you my brother?"

That does it. Asriel lets out a cry of happiness and can't stop hugging you now. He then gets up and goes over to Toriel and clambers onto her lap and whisper something in her ear. Now that you've two seconds of time, your gut sinks and you look over at your last message sent to Sans.

"Sans...you know I donnn mml o morningp"

Ah. Slide text. What a wonderful thing. At least most of the message erased, right?

"Sorry. Asriel jumped me."

The moment your finger hits the send button, there's a knock on the door. Your eyebrows knit together and Asriel rushes to open it up. For a brief moment, you wonder if the family magically contacted your family, but they didn't even know your last name, so that was not a possibility whatsoever.

Unless, that is, your family was Sans the Skeleton.

Which, he was, sure, but not the humans that the Dreemurr family was looking for.

"Sans!"

"hey kid."

Sans placed a hand on Asriel's head and then looks over at you with a...unfamiliar...smile. That's strange. You thought you've seen them all by now.

"Hi, Sans."

"hey there, pal."

Your mouth pulls into a straight line. Sans wasn't stupid. And he keeps his eyes fixated on your for what seems to be an eternity before he raises a hand towards Toriel.

"hi, tori."

"Good afternoon, Sans. You were fast. Were you close?"

Toriel must have texted him earlier. Makes sense. You did bring him up about going out to Grillby's.

"yup."

His reply is curt and he makes his way over to the living room area with the rest of you. He walks carefully, making sure his wound you inflicted isn't too aggravated. Toriel notices right away and waits for Sans to take a seat on the sofa before she stands up with a smile and places her book on her seat.

"You look paler than usual, Sans. Please tell me that you are not working yourself to the bone."

She lets out a chortle, holding back full fledged jokes. Sans joins her in laughter while you and Asriel share strained looks of amusement.

"tibia honest, i had an easier job back Underground. less things to get under my skin, you feel me?"

"Yes, well, please take care of yourself. Otherwise I'll have to telebone you throughout the day just to check up on you."

"nah...i'm not that much of a numbskull."

Their rolling laughter was explosive. Asriel began to crack, and the moment Sans noticed, his pun-bag opened up.

"at least above ground, i can tell when it's about to rain. i feel it in my bones."

Toriel is holding onto the couch and she's hollering out laughter. Sans loves it and his smile softens with adoration of how earnest she is with her love for puns. You catch yourself smiling. Yeaaaah, maybe a few of them...tickled your funny bone, too...  
The howling slowly died and Toriel wiped the tears from her eyes with a few stray snickers.

"Can I get you anything to drink, Sans?"

"no thanks."

"Frisk? Asriel?"

The two of you shake your head. Still, Toriel heads to the kitchen and leaves you alone with Sans and Asriel. The small skeleton shoves his hands in his pockets and the tension in the air suddenly becomes overbearing. Asriel can feel it, too. He's very magic sensitive, you remember, and he's eyeing Sans with an almost morbid curiosity.

"Are you on the defensive?"

He asks, shocking Sans enough for him to turn his attention to the small goat child. You can tell that it caught Sans very off guard. Your stomach flutters with joy. You did something right, at least, with securing him out of there.

"nah. just used a shortcut here."

Asriel's face shifts into disbelief and he shakes his head. For all his naivety, he knows better than to stay in a magical situation. He was Flowey, once upon a time. Activated magic around him made him uneasy.

"I'm gonna go up to my room to do some homework. Come help me, Frisk."

He tries tugging you after him to save you from the situation as well. But you need to stay here and speak with the skeleton. So, with a heavier hand than you intended, you rub his head and shake your head.

"In a bit."

"Friiisk..."

"I have to talk to Sans." You gently tell him. He gives you the saddest look he can muster and you shake your head again. Frowning, he makes his way to his room away from you. It's now just you and Sans. You hear Toriel making a racket in the kitchen, so you two can speak freely even just for a little.

"Are...you okay?"

"yep."

The silence between you two is coarser than wool. You want him to say something, but he just sits there staring at you with that bizarre look...

"Sans..." You make sure you hear Asriel walking upstairs and that the clattering of glass and tin in the kitchen is still keeping Toriel busy. "I don't remember what happened..."

His smile is unwavering. You keep your features straight and pursed. Unsure if you're unnerving him more than he is to you, you decide to continue.

"I'm sorry...I just had a...dream...a nightmare...a memory..." Your hand runs through your hair and rests on your head for a moment as you recall driving the knife inside Sans.

"yeah?"

"I can't...really tell you here. But...that happened and then I'm standing over you...Sans, I really don't remember..."

Your hands fall on your lap, palms open skyward. You want to beg him for help, but what can he do?

"well, if this isn't a joke..." he laughed a bit at the lack of it being a joke, maybe? "then we've got ourselves a real problem. is chara leaking through you again?"

You freeze.

"You...know about Chara...?"

Sans's smile grows tenfold and you finally place his smile.

"past me leaves clues."

He's been leaving stuff behind from every timeline. It's a smile of someone who's been preparing for your return to...sanity, you guess. Or insanity. Or whatever point you have reached now. It's the smile belonging to someone who has been somehow cheating the reset and save functions. You knew that he was the only one who could remember past timelines, but you never knew how. You only guessed that he somehow could retain that information. But you never told him about Chara. You mentioned not being yourself at the time, but you never spoke a name aloud.

"see, i've been beating you to the ruins sometimes and chatting it up with your friend, flowey the flower. see, he remembers every timeline too."

You don't even need for him to finish his monologue. You can already piece together the information.

"is chara still inside you?"

You don't know. You can't say yes or no honestly. So you shrug. Sans's grin widens.

"so what you're saying is that it could very well be the other you inside trying to kill me again."

"No!"

You voice cracks.

"No, no, it's not. I...I had a backseat of when that happened..." You definitely know the grave you're digging here. "This wasn't like those times, though. I just blacked out. Sans, I went to sleep here and woke up there. I promise you, it isn't one of those...times..."

Your pleading sounded weird to your own ears. Sans listens to you solemnly. He's not interested in picking a fight. He just wants the cold hard truth from you.

"so you could have stopped yourself then?"

"No...no, it's not like that, either...there was only one point in time...when you spare me? Only then Chara sort of...gives up? I can take control then. It's hard to explain, but you have to believe me."

Sans nods a few times.

"yeah. i do." He begins, "but this also means i get to keep an eye on you. and you tell me everything that's going on from now on."

You nod. It was fair. You messed up more times than you could count. Him being able to give you a fair chance in the timeline you were trying to save? You were willing to put every card on the table you had to save everyone. If anyone would be able to help you, it was Sans.

"so...about that text..."

All your cards.

"Yeah...?"

"wanna explain it?"

Your chest huffs out. Toriel is still making a racket in the kitchen. Asriel is still in his room. You hate this. Your plans to just...live...quietly...until the war? It's all about to go down the drain.

Shifting uneasily in your seat, you stick your hands inside your sleeves and stretch them out as much as the fabric would let you. Sans is patient. He'll wait you out for sure.

"Really?"

"yep. spill it, kiddo."

You definitely don't feel like the kid you used to be. Not by a long shot. You let out a small groan and pull your legs under you. His darkened eyes, waiting smile, and constant stare wear you down quickly and you look away.

"We're waiting for no one..." You mumble softly, Sans's expression shifting abruptly to surprised.

"what?"

"I've been living alone all this time."

Your voice grows smaller and you manage to link eyes with Sans. He's not happy.

"Because...I don't want...to get close again...you know how it's like." You force a smile, "you know what it's like. You can't afford to not care."

His face draws back into a knowing sadness. The numbness of not caring helped when reset was hit. Especially when things were so good and then ripped away so suddenly...

"I can't do this anymore, Sans...it's just easier this way, y'know?" You let out a small, small laugh. "And I guess it'll keep Chara in check if Chara is still there."

Sans's eyes dart up to the kitchen full of life and love-Toriel. She loved you more than Sans could put into words.

"You can't tell her."

"kid..."

"You can't get her involved. It's the whole point, Sans..."

"tori's your mom..."

It's his turn for his voice to crack. You nod. He's right, but in this timeline? He's wrong. Naturally you'd run to Toriel the moment you could, but not here. Not this time. You smile a toothy smile and dig your hands under your legs, leaning forward a bit.

"I hate it."

Sans clutches the front of his shirt and breathes heavily a few times.

"you picked up a few things from me, huh?"

"Smiles make people think everything is okay." You say just as Toriel sticks her head out of the kitchen to look over at you. Sans looks over at her with eyes wider than they should be and you hear her clatter back to work in the kitchen.

"this...is so weird..."

"Sans...I think I've started over...at least a hundred times...it's not weird to pick up a few things."

Sweat forms on Sans's brow. Of course it wasn't weird, weird. It was just...not you anymore.

"I can take care of myself now...I've learned how from you guys so I could prepare for this timeline..."

"that's messed up, kid...why didn't you ask for help? we could have helped you..."

You shake your head sadly. "I did a few times. But whenever the time came for the war...we were never prepared..."

"jeez..." Sans rubs his neck and goes quiet. He's trying to process all the information you just dumped onto him.

"i knew some things...i remember lots of magic in the air, but never a war..."

"I reset always the day before. The one thing that happens is that flowers start to grow hours before the attacks happen...it's always, always the same."  
You've done a lot of talking in this timeline. More than all the times squished together.

"so...when does this happen?"

You shrug. "The date always changes...you don't remember?"

"nope."

"Weird...I guess I never stopped to ask you."

Not that it'd make a difference. It was strange, and it definitely interested you, but there was nothing you could do with new information anymore. It could have been something to do with the magical changes in the air around the times of the reset or reloads. Or it could be that he just forgot to save memories from those times, how could you know?  
Sans just sits there in a stupor. Everything dawns on him a little bit at a time. The distance you've tried putting between everyone, the reluctance to let anyone in your home, the reason why you trained so damn hard to the point of letting Chara take control...

It was all for them.

"you're not a goddamn hero, kid."

"Not trying to be. I'm just...determined," you grin, "to make all of you live through the next couple of months."


	7. The Night Attacks

The Night Attacks

By the time 11pm rolled around, Toriel had to forcibly tuck Asriel into bed for school the following day. It was going to be his first day, so she wanted him to be ready for it as he would be attending the same school she taught at; but as she looked over to you, she frowned.

"Why don't you try calling your parents again, Frisk?"

Sans had fallen asleep on the couch while waiting and even Asgore had returned from the his out of town meeting today. Stifling a yawn, you curl up against the side of the couch and watch as the late night news flash across the scene. Papyrus's cape is still fastened to your neck, and you pray that it's enough to keep the nightmares away. Asgore was at the going over documents and paperwork when he noticed you fighting sleep.  
Still, to satiate Toriel, you scroll through the numbers on your phone and find your house number. It rings a few times and, of course, no one is there to answer. You try it a few more times before shaking your head and closing your eyes.

"Tori..?"

Asgore stands up from his work and gently ushers his ex wife into the kitchen where they begin talking in hushed voices. Still, you can make out bits and pieces of the conversation. Especially the parts where Toriel's voice broke and quivered.

"is your idea still better to not tell them?"

You grumble a response to Sans and feel your eyes growing heavier by the second. Sooner or later, you won't be able to fight it anymore, and something would have to be done. The entire Dreemurr family had someplace to be tomorrow, and if you weren't going to go home or school, and they couldn't leave you alone, then where would you go?

"Frisk? My child?"

Toriel's voice was soft and filled with sadness. You creak your eyes open and stretch, shoving the heel of your hand into your eye.  
"Your parents...did maybe something bad happen to them?"

You shrug and then Toriel gives you a questioning look.

Oh.

"I dunno...they've done this before though...I'm fine on my own though, I promise."

Because if something bad did happen to the people you supposedly loved and cared about, you'd shed a tear or two and be very worried. Not moments away from falling comfortably asleep on your surrogate mother's couch.

"Frisk...maybe...we should call the human police? Tell them that your parents are missing."

Your heart skips a beat and Sans notices instantly. A lazy eye cracks apart slightly and he eyes you with a small grin. You're quick on your feet now.

"It's okay. They've done this before."

It isn't a lie.

"They've left me once for...a really long time," a month? "And they always come back."

You're suddenly lifted off the couch and held tightly in Toriel's arms. Now you feel horrible. And scared. You weren't lying. The possibility of your parents returning to the apartment was actually quite high, now that you think about it.

"Oh, my child..."

She nuzzles you close and you can really feel the shame trickling down your spine. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"It's okay," you want to reassure her, "I can take care of myself."

When you hug her back, the last thing you expect is for her to start tearing up. The time streams have somehow distorted how kind and gentle she was with you, and the full extent of it now seemed so alien that you don't know how to react.

"You can't go back to an empty home, Frisk."

Asgore's voice is final. Toriel picks you up to bring you to your room but you look back over at Sans for help. He's not going to get wrapped up in this. Especially if he thought that it would be for your own good.

"You're still a child, Frisk. We will take care of you until your parents get home."

You feel sick to your stomach. This wasn't supposed to happen at all. Your parents don't even know you exist still.

"I have to go back for tonight." You try and reason, looking up at Toriel's gentle features with a frown.

"There's no note or anything...so...if they come back tonight, they won't know where I am..."

"i'll take care of everything, tori."

Sans speaks up. All eyes are on him now, and Toriel knows that she can trust him.

"and tomorrow too. we'll go together there, spend the night, and leave in the morning. it's my day off tomorrow, and i've been meaning to take the kid out to grillby's anyways."

Sans the Skeleton to the rescue. Toriel isn't sold on the idea, but she's considering it, which is all you need.

"Will you stay with Sans?"

You nod. She heaves a mighty sigh, her fur ruffling up as she does so, and sets you down. Sans places a hand on your shoulder and passes you a wink.

"I shall drive you, then. It's too late for anyone to be walking home at this hour."

"i was hoping you'd say that. it'd be a bonely walk without you."

Her hand covers her mouth to escape the small giggles. Sans's grin widens as he places his arm around you and you know that he's not quite done with you yet.

"We...are here."

Toriel states, parking the car and getting out. She's on edge as she stares at the looming apartment building and then back over at you. Reaching down, she takes hold of your hand and gets to your level so she can see you eye-to-eye. Her face is pulled tight in worry. Instinctively, you wrap your arms around her and stay like that for a while, not wanting to let go. You miss this. You miss this so much...

"Be good...won't you?"

"I will, mom..."

You whisper back, earning a small gasp from her and an even tighter embrace. You kiss her cheek, signaling that you have to go, and she pulls away with the heaviest of hearts only a mother could bear.

"Frisk...please come home tomorrow, won't you?"

You nod, feeling your heart sinking lower and lower in your chest.

"Don't be afraid to ask to stay over next time, will you not?"

"I'm sorry..."

"No, don't be sorry," she takes hold of your chin and presses her forehead into yours, "we love you, my child. Don't forget this."

You nuzzle her forehead back, feeling a sharp pain shoot through your chest. Your nurtured cynicism over the past resets makes you regret not appreciating more time with her. It's almost made you forget, and guilt riddles you down to the very marrow of your bones.

"I won't."

"Don't give Sans a tough time."

You giggle.

"I mean it. Sans is doing all of us a favor tonight."

"yup. papyrus has to read himself a bedtime story tonight. i won't hear the end of it tomorrow."

Sans pipes up lightheartedly. He stays around the other side of the car to give you and Toriel some space, and you greatly appreciate him for that.

"So...be good."

"Yes, mom."

She clicks her tongue and throws her arms around you a final time, heaving a sigh.

"I'll be good, I promise."

You say, burying your face in her shoulder and inhaling her scent of cinnamon and pastries. There's also a hint of flowers, but that's Asgore's scent beginning to rub off on her.

"I didn't say anything to Asgore or Asriel..."

"They know, my child."

She still doesn't let go until Sans lets out a small cough, earning yet another sigh from Toriel.

"I suppose you should get some sleep..."

"you too, tori. you've a bunch of kids to teach tomorrow...last thing you need to be is a dragon tomorrow."

Toriel raises an eyebrow towards Sans, pulling away from you now.

"to be a'dragon your feet everywhere."

That does it. She's so tired that she sputters into laughter and can't contain herself. You manage a few chortles as well, Sans laughing at his own joke as well albeit quietly. Everyone's dead tired.

"I will see you tomorrow, then, Frisk. Unless your path...parents...come home."

Uh oh. Her angry side was coming out.

"Yes!"

Your voice is too chipper for this hour but it makes her serious scowl change to a brightened smile and she runs her hand through your hair. Sans takes this as his cue to begin his escort to your door, the two of you waving back to Toriel.

"I love you, Frisk!"

She cups her hands around her mouth and calls to you. Your face splits in twain and you stop to catch a kiss that she blows your way. You press it to your cheek and wave again, mouthing 'I love you too' back. She reads your lips very clearly from far away and holds a hand to her cheek. You're okay with talking, but yelling is a different matter.

You key your way into your apartment and immediately make your way to the window to watch her finally get in her car and drive off back home.

Smiling, feeling as if you're on cloud nine, you let your cheek rest in your hand as you watch her drive until the very end of the street and then disappear from view.

"so you do feel love after all."

Snapping out of your thoughts, you turn back to watch Sans scanning through different items scattered throughout your apartment. Nodding, you make your way to the wall-mounted phone and erase all thirty-two missed calls from your phone.

"Yeah...I reset the best times of my life so I could protect everyone in this one...she doesn't remember those best times either..."

You bite the inside of your cheek and then turn to Sans.

"How do you deal with that..? I...miss her...and Undyne and Alphys's marriage...and Papyrus's own cookbook, if you can believe that..."

A ghost of a laugh escapes your throat, stopping you for a moment and then turning sadly to Sans. He's feeling it too. He knows all too well.

"mementos. notes..." oh...he's serious about telling you how to cope? "keep physical memories. the timelines...they have a way of messing with your head. i've memory leaks every now and again from past times. s'why i keep a drawer of memories."

"Oh..." Your mouth forms in a perfect circle. He makes his way over to you and places his hand on your head to gently ruffle your hair.

"you're doin' good, kiddo. just keep a diary or something. it'll help a lot."

"You keep a diary?"

"sure. best way to keep track of all my jokes."

Of course he does.

He lets out an exaggerated yawn and stretches.

"bedtime, kiddo. let's go."

It's contagious. You yawn as well and make your way to your room. You're a bit self-conscious at its state, but there's no helping it now. Sans looks around, hands in his pockets, and says nothing.

Remembering that your sheets are in the wash, you have no choice but to sleep under your comforter only.

Before you climb into bed, you open the door across from your room to reveal a master bedroom, sheets stripped from the bed. A look of defeat scrawls across your face as you enter the room and try to find some covers.

"your parents ever coming back?"

Sans looms over you as you open their closet door to reveal empty clothes hangers and stray shoelaces. Sans doesn't say anything, but his judgement is almost palpable. You've avoided this room ever since you came back. It was a room of bad memories.

"Maybe. They've done this before, like I said."

You close the closet and then go to the closet in the hallway to at least find cover liners.

"They take all their stuff and leave. They went overseas once for a month without me."

"jeez..."

"It's okay, though." You pull out two moth-eaten thin liners and go to set it on the bed where Sans would sleep. "I met you guys because of it."

You reset for these people, after all. There's no way you'd do that for you family.  
"well...we'll talk more in the morning. i told tori that i'd take care of you, didn't i?"

A lopsided grin crosses your face and he gently guides you back to your mellow-yellow colored room and watches you climb into bed.

"i don't need to read you a bedtime story, do i?"

"No."

Your response is too sincere that you only realize a moment or two later that he was actually joking. Rolling your eyes, you can't help but grin and bring your covers around your shoulders.

"Night, Sans."

"night, kiddo."

He shuts the door softly and leaves you staring around the dusty room for a few moments before you settle in bed and draw Papyrus's cape closer around your shoulders.

Yelling snaps your eyes open. For a moment, you think you're in the middle of a nightmare and chills run up your spine. It takes all of ten seconds before you realize that you're not dreaming and the yell you heard was as real as it could be.

That meant Sans...

You try not to trip over your sheets when you bolt out of bed. Already, you can see that there are lights on from under the doorway and you know something is wrong. Throwing open your door, you see Sans stumbling down the hallway. His entire body is hunched forwards and you can't see his arms, or what he's doing, but you recognize the blue hue trailing after his right side. The air is thick with the taste of his signature blue magic. You take a few wary steps after him and watch as he shambles to the living room like a ghost.

Knowingly, you return to your room and take hold of your brown comforter and try and bundle as much of it up in your arms as you can manage. Then, without managing to trip over the trailing covers, you wordlessly clamber onto the couch right beside Sans and yank the covers over him and yourself.

He lets out a gasp and then looks down at you.

"heh...didn't see you."

He was lost in his own mind. You know it's a casualty of the resets and night terrors. Frowning, you rest your head against his arm and close your eyes; grasping onto his hand resting on his lap.

"I get them, too."

You empathize. His hand is shaking in yours, but he removes places it still on your head and manages to give it a gentle rub. You smile and nestle closer to him and let him bring the comforter way up over your shoulder. You look up to make sure that his blue eye had receded. His magic always, even when you beat him, his eye always terrified you. It meant pain...so much pain...

"guess we're gonna have to watch over each other, huh?"

You nod. He was already watching over you. It was your turn, now. You've done all you can for the upcoming war; but if you also helped in small moments like this? Just fractals of time in the grander scheme of things? Everything was worth it.

"G'night Sans..."

Sans wraps his arm around you and holds you close as if his life depended on it. You knew better than to ask about it. He'd tell you if he wanted to.

"night, kiddo."

His cheek presses on the top of your head and lets sleep take over.


	8. Smile!

Smile!

"i uh...paps died pretty badly, huh..?"

Cheeks full of orange juice, you look up at Sans and swallow the liquids in one hard gulp. You lock eyes for a moment and then you're forced to look away with a sad nod.

"huh."

Sans is quiet. For sure that was his nightmare last night, you think. That or maybe he's remembering an exaggerated version...a Sans version. Just like how you remember stuff in Frisk version. Chara's kills, even if Chara killed in the 'neatest' way possible, you remember it so much more...vividly. Blood being boiling hot...dust choking your lungs like cigarette smoke...silent gasps warping into high-pitched wails...wide eyes losing all life morphing into already soulless ones...

"you look like hell."

"Speak for yourself."

"if tori heard you say that..."

As if on cue, your phone rings from your bedroom. You quickly abandon your breakfast and walk over to retrieve it. You and Sans had been up for about an hour and a half already, but neither of you dared move. It was just the two of you sitting there, propped up against each other, staring at the dusty old TV set as if it were playing something interesting. In reality, though, you were sharing the silence; relishing in your shared fate. It was a mutual understanding that you did something so terrible that only Sans could understand you. Sans always traipsed in the grey areas of life. With you now understanding his life, he was the only one who could provide comfort with regards to the temporal curtains of time. The same worked in reverse, where you could provide the same support when his terrors would hit.

"Good morning, my child. I hope you slept well. We are missing you very dearly here. I will be at school all day, but do not hesitate to call me if you need me.

Be Good.

Love,

Mom.

]:)"

You stare at your phone with the largest grin you could muster and giggle a bit. God, you missed her texts.

"Good morning, mom. Thank you for driving me home last night. I will, I promise. See you tonight. I love you."

You sealed the text with a kiss on the screen of your phone and sent it off.  
Shoving your phone in your pocket, you make your way back to the kitchen where Sans is prepping the coffee maker. The grounds smell heavenly and it stirs life into the cold apartment.

"so first place at the chess club, huh?"

Sans speaks, snapping you out of your stupor. It's honestly the first the that your house smelled like a home, and it was all thanks to Sans the Skeleton and a stupid pot of coffee. A home was supposed to have loving people anyhow...

"Yeah."

"you nerd."

Your cheeks puff out instantly at the comment and, just as quickly, deflates into a smile.

"I'm really good at sudoku, too."

"psuedo-what?"

"Suuudokuuu."

You purposefully elongate the syllables, feeling him definitely elbowing you in the ribs. Sans laughs and sticks his hands in his pockets; turning away from the steadily dripping black ichor. With a huff, you pull out two bowls and spoons for cereal.

"i know, i know. i'm just teasing...nerd."

Another dirty look is shot in his direction and earns you a steady chuckle. He turns away and inspects the now lit up areas of the apartment with critical care. The walls were a white-turned-yellow color and Sans immediately knew it to be from cigarette smoke. The grey carpets were splotched dark brown in some places and the worst parts of the fraying were obviously taped down with duct tape. The floorboards were cracked and worn down to a scratched white color in most places.  
Okay, so maybe looking at the state of the apartment wasn't fair. Sometimes it's all you can afford.  
Sans shook his head and looked at the walls to see them full of pictures of unfamiliar faces. None seemed to contain your face. There were boxes and strewn about VHS cassettes about the living room floor. When Sans turned to look at the kitchen itself, he noticed that the fridge held some pieces of paper with scribbled notes and different mementos stuck onto it. More noticeably was the smell that came from under the fridge itself you've gone nose blind to.  
You're watching Sans's eyes flicker from one thing to the other in morbid curiosity. Sighing through your nose, you let his eyes peruse for a bit longer. Of course he's curious about you. When you were Underground, you never spoke to them about yourself. It's only natural that here, now, in a timeline that he was going to remember, he ask the important questions like 'Who is Frisk?' or 'What is Frisk's family like?'  
It's hard to wrap your head around it, but they care. It doesn't make sense after you ruthlessly killed them all before and ruined their lives over and over and over again but-  
Sans's hand suddenly reaches over to you and takes the carton of milk from your hands. Blinking your eyes a few times, you realize the puddle of milk and golden cereal balls floating in a pool on the counter; steadily dripping on the ground in small 'plips'.

"Shoot..."

"spacing out?"

Nodding, you automatically goes to mop up the mess with a nearby cloth. Sans holds the milk hostage until you finish before he gives it back to you with his usual silly little grin.

"don't look at me like that. no need to cry over spilled milk."

"That was a forced joke and you know it."

You retort. He winces back playfully as he pulls out two new, larger bowls. He carefully transfers the sloppy smaller bowls into the larger one and you watch in bewilderment. Sans catches you staring and his usual grin turns into something more big-brotherly like.

"papyrus used to do the same thing when he was a kid."

"I'm not a kid anymore."

"you poured milk all over your toes." You look down and give your toes a test wiggle.

Gross.

"you're a kid."

You purse your lips in a silent protest and carry your bowl to the table and stare at Sans from afar. He already turned his attention away from you and hungrily at the coffee. It wasn't quite done, but there was enough for a cup and he was desperate for a steaming hot mug. With a small smile, you draw your knees close to your chest while on the chair. He definitely made the house feel like a home.

"Sans?"

"hm?"

"Thank you."

"eh, don't get all sentimental on me. it's too early for that. i haven't even started on my morning coffee."

He does, though, the moment he finished that statement and takes the first sip of his black coffee.  
Your continued stare at him makes him uneasy.

"what?"

"Is your wound feeling better?"

Without a moment's reprieve, he pulls the neck of his shirt outward and looks down. Doing his best impression at a frown, he pretends to scrutinize it even more closely and then gives a solid nod.

"yup."

You breathe a small sigh of relief and turn your attention to the front door to see two shadows through the cloth blinds. Your eyes widen and gut ices over. Sans hasn't noticed, so you return your attention back to your cereal.

"Hey, Sans?"

"hm?"

"Can you promise me something?"

"uh oh...kid, i'm bad at those."

You look up, determined to get him to promise you, and furrow your brows. You were running out of time. With an exaggerated sigh, Sans downs the rest of his coffee and leans back against the counter.

"lay it on me..."

"If my parents actually come back...could you try and visit once every few days?"

"that's it?"

He's almost surprised at your request. Sure, you had crappy parents, but for such an odd request?  
You nod vehemently.

"yeah, kid...i can do that."

"Good. Because here they come."

The sound of a lock turning followed by keys jangling was sudden enough to startle Sans. Your knees are brought closer to your chest and your expression immediately neutralizes and mouth gums up.

"Oh, great. It's back."

"What?"

You don't move. You don't even breathe. You just continue to stare at your knees.

"now, that's no way to talk about your kid."

Sans speaks up. There's no way he's letting these people trash talk you.

"Frisk, are these your parents?"

So much is going on all at once now. Blue magic floods the air. Your tall, beautiful mother is screeching at the sight of a living skeleton. Your (step)father is trying to force his way in front of his loving wife to take on whatever she's yelling at. And you sit there like a stone totem and can't even find it within yourself to budge.

"Frisk?"

"Don't talk to that...that monster, Frisk." Your father dictates in a stern voice. You look up at Sans and give him a small nod. Nothing happens. Everything goes still and you let out a small laugh.

"They're pretty scary, but they're alright, Sans! Mom, dad, this is Sans! Sans the Skeleton! He brought me home!"

Your stomach is twisting in knots. You can actually feel the orange juice reverse its path in your stomach. Sans is not convinced, and that's all you need him to know.

"oh. nice to meet you."

He's cold. Good. He believes you.

"Get out of here, monster! What the hell's going on with all these...things running around!?"

Your mother's screaming turns into screeching and you're not sure you eardrums can take it any longer.

"Sans, please go."

"kid..."

"I'll be fine, Sans. Didn't I fight you a couple dozen times? I'll be okay."

Only slightly reassured, Sans places the mug back on the counter and shoves his hands into his pockets. There are better tactics to pick. Better ways to fight people than head on.

"your coffee was terrible. you might want to look at replacing the maker."

He winks at you, earning a small giggle and walking past your parents. Your mother practically jumps out of his way and you try so hard not to giggle that your father gives you the stink eye.

Maybe...maybe it's time your parents see Chara.

"We're going to have a great time together, mom and dad."

Your eyes pry open and Chara's smile washes over your face. Sans turns to look back at you and stops dead in his tracks. Chills run up and down his spine and he realizes why you made him promise what he did. It wasn't for your safety. It was for your parents. He's physically shaking and his desire to leave evaporates the moment you stand tall on your chair.

"don't mess with your kid." Sans warns, his eye beginning to shift in color. "You don't know what you'd be dealing with."

"We'll deal with it however we want. Leave our house, now!"

"it's your funeral."

Sans shrugs at your father's yelling and takes a few steps backwards outside; promptly having the door slam shut in his face.  
That's when his entire body breaks down and he falls to his knees. After all, that's the face you made before you killed the entire population of the Underground.


	9. Real in This Timeline

Real in This Timeline

You were not 'good' like you promised Toriel.

Quite the opposite, you fought back against your parents for the first time in your life. Your once gentle, caring hands formed into fists and you punched back. You kicked and yelled and you fought back tooth and nail and bone. You relied on Undyne's physical training; on Papyrus's boggling puzzles that made you remember complex information; on Sans's evasions; on everything that made you into the person you were now. You weren't as physically strong as your parents, but from Sans, you knew how to wear them out.

Chara knew how to wear them out. Your mother's attempted grabs at you failed. Your father's heavy hand never made contact once. It fueled their anger, but yours had been a roaring inferno ever since you've lived here.

By the end of it, they were breathing heavily and you stood stock still in the middle of your room with the largest Chara smile you could muster. You've done it in the mirror countless of times before. You absolutely needed to get that look down to scare your opponents. It was the equivalent of Undyne's piercing eyes when you fought her. In all honesty, you loved how...creepy...you could make yourself out to be.

If you got your hands on a knife though...

Your father shoves his fist through the door on his way out. He gave up on you. But your mother...she was the heartless one.

"We should have left you on that mountain."

"You did."

You smile. She doesn't scare you anymore. You're not the small child you once were. You weren't the scared little kid who curled up under the bed and prayed to God that your parents stayed at their cottage for the week. You weren't the scared little kid who refused to speak for months at a time because you feared speaking out of terms.

You are Frisk.

You are determined...to make these people suffer through hell if that's what they're prepared to force you through.

"Actually, monsters like Sans is freed thanks to you."

She's not pleased. Her bejeweled fingers tap against her arm as she tries breathing normally again.  
The two of them had a hell of a time trying to get you to hand over your cell phone. You were not going to easily hand over your lifeline. This was the only thing that was going to keep you connected to your loved ones.

"Keep your phone if you want, dear." She begins. "Dirk's just going to build a kill switch."

Ah. Because he was actually tech-savvy.

You're unfazed. You don't even care. You don't care about them at all. All you needed was a place to rest your head until the war and keep everyone away from all your problems until then. Now you didn't have to worry about Toriel catching you crying or you shaking Sans again in the middle of the night.

You smile and watch as she stomps out of your room. She's furious. She eyes you from the hole in the door and you wave. There were going to be repercussions for this. The heaviest of all was going to be dealing with an eager Chara who sensed battle and egged you on from the sidelines.

The door locks straightaway behind the small skeleton when he leaves the house.

And then the yelling starts up. He wants to interfere. To haul your butt out of the danger zone.

But it isn't laziness that stops him from entering once again, it was the fear that the sight of him would really set Chara off. Especially if your mindset was what it was. The yelling subsided in a grand total of thirty minutes and was followed by angry shuffling. He didn't care if they could still see his silhouette against the curtain. He needed to make sure you didn't do anything stupid.

Which, if you did, there wouldn't have been such angry shuffling and yells. Deep down, he's proud of you for standing up to your demons. But it didn't mean he wanted you to turn into one yourself.

Sans whips out his phone and his fingers fly across the screen.

"r u ok?"

He waits impatiently before spamming you with the same thing over and over again. There's no reply. His hands are trembling. If Chara...

"Yes."

A ragged sigh of relief flows through his nose.

"r u sure?"

He sits on the steps now. Just a few more texts...then he knows he can leave.

"No."

Sans takes in a sharp breath and stands up quickly.

"Everything will be okay. I might lose my phone, though. They want to take it away. If they do, can you let Toriel know that it's for studying purposes?"

Sans is already making his way back up the stairs. He's ready to collect you once more and bring you over to his house and safeguard you. He already hated your parents with a burning fiery passion of a thousand suns. Before he can blast the door open with his infamous Gaster Blaster manifesting, his phone goes off again.

"I think Chara is here. Don't set Chara off."

The magic dissipated into thin air and Sans let out an angry growl. His phone pinged again.

"Can I live with you if I get out?"

"duh."

Sans stared at the door, half expecting it to fly open but it doesn't. He knows that you've gotta tame the beast inside-Chara.

Don't set Chara off.

Damn it...

"I'll see you soon, then. Thanks."

"don't get into trouble. remember what tori said and be good."

"I'll try."

Well. That's the best the kid could do. Sighing, he shoved his phone in his pocket and made his way back home. He hated this. At least you knew that you could go to live with him. It'd be different than living with Toriel. Sans and Papyrus both had knowledge of the time space travel. It'd be much easier to deal with that than have Toriel worry needlessly. For that, Sans knew that you were right.

Chara seeping through the cracks was dangerous, too. Especially around humans. Human politicking was way different compared to monster laws. Sans didn't know it all, but he knew that there were even more dire consequences for murder amongst humans.

Papyrus knows when Sans is bothered. He's got this kind of walk that teeters him from one side to the other and Papyrus instantly knows he had a really bad night.

"SANS!"

Papyrus calls to his brother, who barely makes it to the couch before his brother calls his name.

"huh? you're home."

"OF COURSE I'M HOME. KING ASGORE SAID THAT HE IS WAITING ON PAPERS BEFORE I AM TO BE APPOINTED TO HIS ROYAL AGENT."

"bro...i'm...so proud of you. when did that happen?"

Papyrus beams as he bounds over to Sans from the kitchen and poses heroically.

"THIS MORNING! WHEN YOU WERE OUT, KING ASGORE SAID THAT HE IS NOW RUNNING A NEW DEPARTMENT OF MONSTER RIGHTS IN THE GOVERNMENT. HE IS SO GREAT!"

Sans is beaming as well. He knew that Papyrus would be royal guard some day. Or a branch of, at worst.

"i knew you could do it, Paps."

With his signature 'NYEH HEH HEH,' Papyrus leans over and picks up his brother in his arms and squeezes him tight in a hug.

"I KNOW. AM I NOT TRULY AMAZING!?"

"man...you're so cool."

Sans hugs back effortlessly. Papyrus is the world to him. Papyrus makes every day worthwhile. Papyrus is the one true person who could actually keep the candle of his life alight. Whether he knew it or not, Sans couldn't exactly tell. All he knew was that the Great Papyrus was the only truly constant in the variables of his life.

"WHAT HAPPENED AT OUR HUMAN'S HOUSE?"

His question is innocent, but the hug remains. As his unofficial keeper, his guts (nyeh heheh) tell him that Sans is in desperate need of his brotherly love. And that's exactly what Sans gets.

With the smaller skeleton's legs dangling in the air, Papyrus's long chin resting on his brother's head, he brings him over to the couch and sits in one fluid movement.

"bro."

"YOU ARE IN NEED OF HUGS. DO YOU NEED KISSES TOO? SHALL I CALL UNDYNE?"

"the only kisses undyne gives are smacks."

The word play almost goes over Papyrus's head. But it doesn't. He's adept at figuring out his jokes. And he loves it.

"aw, you're smiling."

"I AM!"

"you loved that one."

"I HAAAATED IT!"

Sans, by this time, is burning up with new japes to dish out. He looks up at his brother with wide, mischievous eyes and all it takes is for Papyrus to return the gaze with one that said 'DON'T.'

But he wanted to. Maybe one more...

"okay, bro. oh, i learned something about cooking today."

"IF THIS IS A JOKE..."

"you're my butter half, papyrus."

"AHHHHH!"

The two loving arms around Sans squeezed even more tightly and leaned back in the couch-a confirmation that he wasn't going to let his brother go anytime soon.

Bing.

Just as Sans closed his eyes to soak into his brother's arms, his phone went off. Grumbling, he fished it out of his pocket, much to Papyrus's malcontent, and read it over his shoulder.

"Sans? I think everything is OK now. I don't feel Chara anymore."

That actually didn't comfort him whatsoever.

"did you do something stupid?"

Texting with one hand was tricky. His bony fingers kept losing grip on the phone.

"No. But they're installing a lock on the outside of my door."

Sans sighed. His brother didn't miss a beat and began rocking side to side with him.

"YOU SHOULD PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN AND TRY MY NEW CREATION! SOUP-SPAGHETTI!"

God, that sounded delicious.

"so...soupghetti?"

"NO! SANS!"

"spagoup?"

"THAT SOUNDS REPULSIVE!"

"heh heh heh..."

"DON'T LAUGH, THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"

Bing.

"Sorry for bothering you. I just thought you should know in case something happens."

Sans doesn't have time to answer. Papyrus takes his phone from him with a scowl. Rolling his eyes, he tosses it gently over to the other end of the couch, just out of reach and gets comfortable.

"IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU'VE TOLD ME A STORY, SANS."

"i missed one day."

"IT'S BEEN A VERY LONG WHILE, THEN."

The air is quiet. Sans is thinking of a story, for sure, and Papyrus waits patiently. He always had time and energy to tell his brother a story, and today was no exception.

"on-"

Sans's phone rang, interrupting him before he had a chance to begin. Rolling his eyes, Papyrus let his brother scoot off him to answer the phone and beginng the 'I'm talking to someone' pace around the room.

"hi, toriel...yes, frisk's parents came home...everything is fine...okay. bye."

The call was brief and rushed, yet it wore down on the skeleton quickly. Papyrus furrowed his eyebrows together and stood up, crossing his arms. His eyes analyzed his tired brother. He was tired today. Not lazy, but down-to-the-bone tired.

"I WILL GO BUY STUFF FOR SUPPER TONIGHT. DO YOU WANT SOMETHING SPECIAL?"

Sans forced a smile and looked up from the text you had sent earlier. It bothered Papyrus with how much his brother was focused on his phone. It wasn't Sans at all. This

was a proactive Sans with something troubling him and he was taking action about it. Sans doing something was...wrong. It never meant anything good.

"nah. everything you make is great, papyrus."

Still. Papyrus couldn't help but beam at the compliment. No matter what was happening, his brother was always going to support him; and he needed to do the same.

Your day was spent in your room. Dirk had finished installing a new door handle and had it reversed so that they could lock it from the outside. Sure, the knob would be wonky to turn, but it was worth it. He then proceeded to install a latch at the base of your door and only then was he satisfied. The small hole in the thin wood where his fist went through was covered up with cardboard and duct tape. It didn't interest him too much to repair that. If anything, it was great to keep an eye out on you in case you did anything too stupid.

Which, he knew, you would. Hell, the moment you were dropped off at the top of Mt. Ebott, you wandered up so high that you found yourself a nice hole to fall into.

"It's staring at me..."

Dirk tried whispering to your mother. He wasn't doing a very good job at it. Your eyes (and smile) were kept wide. Psyching them out like Undyne does was a way to get a mental edge on them. Chara was under control now, but you could still feel the shivering anticipation that Chara did back when you hunted every monster down. You knew you were on a slippery slope if you caved even just a little to the beast inside. You did that once before by accident. You thought that Chara had a good side. You were wrong. There's no change in that fact now. Except now you knew how to rein in control and keep most things under check.

"Well, don't pay any attention to it..." Your mother whispers back. She's pretty. She's always been pretty. Her nails were perfectly done and always covered in rhinestones. Her hair was a gorgeous, bouncy brunette that framed her thin, oval face (she liked reminding you that your face belonged to your father's side of the family). She was tall and had long, long legs that she loved showing off.

"Tell your sister to take care of it..."

"Are you crazy? Last time Gina took care of the thing, she wouldn't stop harassing me on how to take care of it myself."

Your mother wasn't always this way. You remember her in what seemed to be in another lifetime. She would bring you to the mountain and set up a campsite with you. Even if you stayed there for a few hours, she'd make sure to bring a tent and supplies just so you had a base of command to return back to. She'd bring along her field journal and you'd collect flowers, grass, snake skins...anything you could get your hands on. And then she'd press them into her book and come up a story about them within the following week. Woodland fairies, garden gnomes, monsters and elves...she was...prettier then. Her hair was a mousy blonde and cropped in a pixie cut hairstyle. Her heels were substituted with hiking boots and skirts for khakis. You missed that mom. The mom who would spend all day with you right up until the twilight hours talking and enjoying nature.

Then Dirk came along...

Love is blind...but your mother was completely blindsided and changed. She never once looked back. She began calling you 'it' and...seeing things. Something inside her snapped when Dirk came along. He soothes her demon now, though. With what, you don't know, but she loves him for it. And you hate him for it. You hate her, too. What she's become...what she's done to you...for letting him lock you in this urine-colored room...

"Just call her up. Dump it with her. I don't want it here."

"I don't either, but it's not going to Gina's."

"I'll go if you let me leave."

You speak to them before they can close the door. Your mother raises a thin eyebrow. Your smile is gone and you relax your eyes. She knows you're serious.

"I'll never come back. I didn't think you would. That's why I came back here."

Dirk snorted, almost choking on the gum he'd been chewing.

"Who else do you think would pay for the rent?"

You shrug. You hadn't thought about it, in retrospect. But what the hell did it matter now?  
Dirk gives you a fierce look and then shuts the door. He latches and locks it up all the way and then you're left alone. You wait a few moments before going to your nightstand and reach under it. Pulling out your mother's old field journal, you flip through the pages and frown. Such a thing of misery...

And tear it up. Page after page after page, you rip up the old memories of who your mother used to be. She wasn't your mother anymore. Toriel was.

"DO YOUR PUZZLES, SANS."

"i am."

Sans grumbled back as he stares at a sudoku puzzle he picked out of a very old newspaper. He doesn't even have the pencil in his hands.

"THE PUZZLE ISN'T INTIMIDATED BY YOUR GLOWY-NESS, SANS. STOP TRYING TO USE MAGIC ON IT."

"okay."

"YOU'RE STILL TRYING TO INTIMIDATE IT WITH A BLANK STARE. IT ISN'T AFRAID OF YOU."

"it should be."

Sans goes to tear at the sudoku but Papyrus slams his hand down on it violently. He's upset.

"DON'T DO THIS. THINK OF THAT PUZZLE'S FEELINGS."

Sans grumbles and leans on the two back legs of his chair while crossing his arms. He hated when Papyrus was mad at him. Especially if he had a right.

"HERE. I MADE THIS SPECIAL CAKE FOR YOU. IT HAS NO SPAGHETTI IN IT, BUT YOU SHOULD LIKE IT ANYWAYS."

The taller skeleton nearly sprinted over to the stove to retrieve a covered plate and deposit it in front of his brother. It smelled...good...to say in the least. But the idea of it being something other than spaghetti sends chills running down his spine. Slowly, he lifts the small domed lid off the plate to see a neat piece of velvety red cake sitting there.

Suspicious.

Veeeery suspicious...

"TRY IT, SANS. YOU'LL LOVE IT!"

Piercing into the cake with his fork, Sans immediately notices that it's moist. The way a cake should be. Very, very suspicious...

And bites into it.

"this is amazing, actually. wow, papyrus, you're really on your way to be a great chef, aren't you?"

Ah. The bright light at the end of a rough day. His brother's actually getting the hang of cooking.

Papyrus lets out a loud WHOOP and can't help but hug his brother tightly, pressing his cheek against his.

"I KNEW YOU'D LOVE KETCHUP CAKE!"

Ketchup cake.

"this isn't...carrot cake...?"

"NOPE! I KNOW YOUR DEEP AFFECTION TOWARDS CONDIMENTS, AND YOUR CONSTANT NIGHTTIME SNACKING ON CAKES, SO WHY NOT COMBINE THE BOTH OF THEM? I HAD SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET SEND ME THE RECIPE! ISN'T IT GREAT!?"

"bro...i can't... ketchup... with your greatness."

"I'LL LET THAT ONE SLIDE."

"i'll relish this forever."

"SANS."

"you needed to mustard all your strength to make this, didn't you?"

Being so close to his brother's face, Sans could see that Papyrus was giving him the stink eye. The close-up stink eye.

"love you, bro."

"OF COURSE YOU DO. EVERYONE LOVES THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

Sans shoved another forkful in his mouth. It was actually pretty good.

Sans didn't do his puzzle that night. In fact, he didn't even bother to do a simple crossword puzzle. He went straight to bed, and that had put Papyrus into big brother mode. He hated when Sans was too lazy to do what he needed to do. It was troubling. It meant that Sans wanted to face his demons all over again as whatever sort of punishment he thought he needed.  
Papyrus, simply put, hated that part of Sans. He hated how his brother would do his timey-wimey stuff and then refuse to speak to him about it when he awoke. Like...like he didn't trust his own brother with what was bothering him. Papyrus knew anyways, with how much Sans babbled when the terrors attacked, but he wanted to actually talk about them.

He never did.

And Papyrus was such an utter failure of a brother because of it. Or it felt like it. Hell if he knew. The only thing Papyrus knew how to do was break into Sans's room and comfort him 'til morning came. Then, before Sans actually woke up, he'd leave the room and lock it all up again. At least it was one way for Sans to think that all was normal. Even if Sans would wake up and see Papyrus during an attack, he wouldn't remember it in the morning.

So, as always, when Sans wouldn't do his nighttime puzzle, Papyrus dressed in comfy clothes without his cape, grabbed his pillow, and waited outside of San's room.  
A little past midnight and the scared mumbling started. That's when Papyrus took out a copy of Sans's key and let himself in. Blue smoke was already wrapping around Sans.

Waving the puffs away, the tall skeleton carefully stepped over Sans and propped his pillow against the wall. He gingerly pulled Sans into the crook of his elbow and saw both his eyes open wide. His mouth hung open in a silent scream as he grasped at the wound on his chest and tried pushing himself as far back as he could. Waving more of the heady magic away from his view, Papyrus adjusted Sans's pillow so that he wouldn't knock his head senselessly into the wall. Then, he took hold of Sans's hands and held them against his chest so that his fingers wouldn't accidentally catch on a rib.

The screaming began, then. He knew that he made the terrors worse like this, but it was the only way he could prevent Sans from hurting himself at night. Once, he woke up with a cracked collarbone from falling off the bed and running into the wall. Another time, he actually managed to un-socket a couple of fingers and lose them in his bed for a week. Once, he even managed to knock his kneecap. How that one happened, Papyrus wasn't sure, but it did. And he wasn't happy about it. It gave Sans the excuse to be lazier than ever for the entire week.

Papyrus's face twisted in sadness as he tried calming his brother with stories about anything and everything. He knew that he was loud, but he tried desperately to keep his voice soft and comforting at the very least.

"...HEY SANS, REMEMBER THE TIME WHEN THE HUMAN FREED US FROM THAT CREEPY FLOWER?"

The screaming caught in his throat. And then the next thing absolutely shattered Papyrus's heart.

He was calling his name. Softly, sadly, but surely he was looking for his brother.

"I AM...I am right here, Sans." Papyrus whispered. He hugged Sans close and shut his eyes tight. Every time Sans called his name, Papyrus would repeat the same thing. "I am right here."

"don't die...god, no..."

Papyrus wiped at his cheeks, tears already streaming down steadily, and he kept his restraint on his brother, who tried to get up. No doubt to look for him, as he had done once before, but he couldn't let him go. It was for his own good.

"Sans..."

Sans blinked a few times, the blue magic fading, and he stared up at Papyrus tearfully.

"oh. you're back. i thought you turned to dust."

"Not this time, Sans."

"okay. good. don't."

And just like that, Sans fell limp in his brother's arms once more. He looked...relieved. Papyrus wasn't. The timelines affected his brother more than it did to him. To Papyrus, he didn't even want to acknowledge that that kind of ability was possibly good. Not when Sans was in his arms. Not when it messed his brother up so badly that he couldn't even get a proper night's rest without actually relaxing before bed. He didn't grasp the entire concept like Sans did; and for that he was grateful. It meant that he could focus on Sans and Sans only. Not about himself dying elsewhere.


	10. Chilled to the Bone

Chilled to the Bone

"tell me, how are you sleeping so easy?"

Sans questions you. His hands are enclosed around your neck and you struggle to not flail.

It's just a dream.

Just a dream...

Just...a dream...

You let out a strangled yell and try and use your short legs to kick him off you. But him being a skeleton, your foot becomes entrapped in one of his ribs under all his clothing and you're kicking at air.

"just let chara out. that;s what you want, isn't it? to be free again?"

No. No, no, no...it's all a lie...

"hey, how'd you kill papyrus again? oh. right. a hug."

Sans's face upturns into a monstrous grin and bones encircle the two of you. He's never cared about himself dying. He had a crappy sense of self-preservation.  
They were closing in fast until-

You're screaming. Your throat burns and everything around you is hazy. Your hands are prying at your throat; trying to remove the phantom hands.

It was a nightmare. A dream. It wasn't real. Stop freaking out, Frisk. It's over. Nothing can-

Water.

Instead of screaming now, you're gasping for air. The coldest bucket of water had been dumped over you, and your mother is standing there with the largest eyes you've ever seen.

"What...is wrong with you?"

She asks shakily. Your hand covers your chest and you stare back at her, breathing harshly. She backs away from you before you can collect yourself and throws the pail to the side of the room. You pull yourself into a sitting position, trembling violently, and wishing that Toriel were there to wrap her big, fluffy arms around you.

Instead, you have to do that yourself and stare at your biological mother. Of course she's scared of you. You just proved to her some three days ago that you could stand up for yourself.

Her eyes look down at the scraps of paper and assorted feathers and petals around your bed and she lets out a cry.

"HOW DARE YOU?"

She looks as if she's about to cry, but so are you. There's a glimmer of your old mom in her eye, but she's not acting on it. She's...not your mother anymore.

"Let me leave."

You say, voice cracking. You're on the very edge of crying. You reach out and yank Papyrus's cape from under your pillow. You've had enough. This was more than you could stand.

"JUST LEAVE."

Do you love her? No. You love the memory of who she was. This...person...let you rot in your room for the past couple of days. She left you on a mountain. She abandoned you for weeks at a time. She was a mother. Now she's just...something else.

You don't have enough time to grab your phone before she yanks on your arm and begins pulling you through the corridor and to the entryway. She twists the door open and forcibly shoves you out before slamming the door in your face.

Well. You got what you wanted. Except your shoes were in the apartment still. And your coat. And it was the middle of the night.

Shivering, you sit on the front step and look up at the sky. Your stupid phone was still lost somewhere in your sheets. At the very least, you have Papyrus's (dry) cape. So you turn that sideways and hug it close to your body. In a silent prayer, you close your eyes for a couple of seconds and then begin your journey.

Your socks weren't touched by the initial water dousing, but they still weren't keeping the cold out like a warm pair of shoes or boots would. And your body is shivering so violently that you try and keep your cheeks warm by cupping them in your hands and blowing out warm air every now and again.

But you've made it!

You just can't feel your fingers! Or toes! Or thighs! Or chin...but you made it!

There, sparkling with the usual Christmas lights, was your beacon of hope. The sun's rays had begun to touch the horizon, and cars had begun to come to life in preparation for their normal morning routines.

Would it be better to knock or ring the doorbell?  
You ring the doorbell and retract your hand back within the cape. There was shuffling heard from inside and you shift your weight from one foot to the other impatiently. You refrain from ringing the bell again, hoping that they'd answer the door faster. Before you know it, though, the door swings open. Papyrus is standing there still in his pajamas. He looks around, completely overseeing you until you let out a choked sob. It's really him.

"FRISK?"

And you run headlong into his arms, bawling. He's stunned for full five seconds before he quickly scoops you up in his arms. He brings you in and closes the door in one quick motion.

"YOU'RE FREEZING. WHAT HAPPENED? HEY, SANS. THE HUMAN IS HERE AND CRYING!"  
The newfound heat inside the house makes you shake harder. You need to warm up.

Fast.

"YOUR CLOTHES ARE FROZEN IN ONE DIRECTION. THAT'S PRETTY COOL! HOW DID YOU DO THAT? HEY, ARE YOU MAGIC, TOO? I DIDN'T KNOW HUMANS COULD TURN BLUE!"

Freezing.

Sans is beside you two, now, and you don't even notice him until his hands touch yours.

"call toriel. i'll take care of frisk."

"GOT IT."

Papyrus sets you down, ruffles your stiff hair, and then runs to grab his phone in his room. In the meantime, Sans is guiding you to the bathroom and starts drawing you a warm shower.

"god, what happened?"

You try to talk, but your chin, now that it's warm enough, begins to tremble violently. Sans doesn't even give you time to remove your clothes. He uses his magic to pick you up and shoves you under the warm water.

Your screams echo throughout the tiny bathroom.

It burns.

God, why does it burn when it's supposed to help?

Your crying is uncontrollable, now. Sans yanks you back out of the water as quickly as possible and lets you cry at the other end of the tub. His face is filled with worry, and he doesn't know what exactly is going on, but he knows that he just hurt you.

"f-frisk...?"

Your hand covers your mouth as you try and stifle your sobs. Sans released his magic grip on you and you immediately curl up in a tight ball and try and protect your feel from the runoff water.

"HEY, SANS!"

Papyrus is standing in the doorway holding up his phone to him. Toriel must have heard...

"h-hello?"

"Sans! Was that Frisk? Why is Frisk screaming like that? What happened! Sans, is that the shower? You're not using hot water, are you!? WARM WATER, SANS. LUKE. WARM."

You can hear Toriel screeching at Sans over the phone. She's not happy. Not in the slightest. Sans's immediate reaction is turn the water colder.

"YOU'RE GOING TO SHOCK THE SYSTEM IF YOU USE HOT WATER RIGHT AWAY."

Uh oh. She's scolding him. But Sans actually doesn't seem to mind. His entire face is strewn with concern and he hangs onto every word that Toriel shouts at him.  
The cooler water now begins to warm you up and you let your toes rest back down on the porcelain. Slowly, you inch back in and test the water with your hands. It's better now. Warmer. A small laugh escapes you as steam literally rises off you.

"IS THIS A HUMAN MAGIC ATTACK?"

You shake your head. Okay, now the water was starting to feel cold, too. Still, you stay inside and completely submerge your head under the cold. You didn't realize it, but the top of your head was still freezing. As it slowly warmed up, you let out a sigh and began shivering again as your clothes began to leak out cold water under you.

Papyrus is wiping at his eyes and watches as Sans slowly increases the heat over you. Toriel stopped yelling at him over the phone and he's just staring at the steam steadily rising off your back. It's almost surreal.

Once more, the what-felt-like warm water turns icy and when Sans sees you shiver, he turns it up just a little bit again. He does it a few more times until the dial is finally a little past the middle and you try and huddle under the hot water all at once. Realizing this, Sans plugs the drain and lets the warm water start to build up around you.

Your heartbeat, finally, is slowing. It had been thundering in your chest the entire walk to their house and you weren't even sure you'd make it. You were feeding off adrenaline, mostly, and the determination.

The doorbell rang several times downstairs, and Papyrus ran to get it. Their savior had finally arrived.  
Sans stood way back. Supermom was on her way.

"FRISK!?"

Waaay on her way.

Her feet thundered up the stairs and she would have pushed Sans out of the way if he were in it. Instead, she falls to her knees and lunges over the side of the tub and pulls you close.

"You're freezing! Oh my child, what happened?"

You go to speak, but the moment even part of your body is out of the warm water, you begin shivering again. She's upset, but she's not crying. She shoves you back under the water and reaches over to tear off your socks. Once your bare feet hit the water, you realize that you're actually still freezing. Shuddering a bit, she reaches over to the towel rack and picks up the entire stack.

"Please, take off your clothes, my child. I know it is awkward, but it's keeping you from warming up."

Without hesitation, you yank the clothes off your back and Toriel immediately covers you up again with towels. She wraps you tightly in it without so much as a peek and you can feel warmth finally spread throughout you. She gently picks up the clothes from around you and places it over the side of the tub and turns to Sans.

"Can Frisk borrow some of your clothes?"

"oh."

He's off to collect extra anything that he has. In that time, Toriel helps you peel off the rest of your clothes with a gentleness and dignity-preserving touch that you feel yourself tear up. For the past three days, you were an it, and just to have her have the decency to look away when you changed proved just how much she valued you. It was...nice.  
"There." She wraps you in a second towel and you can already feel the heat building up inside you again. She finally turns off the water about five minutes later and lets you sit in the bath while it drains. Two minutes later, Sans comes in and is carrying one of his tshirts, his very hoodie off his back, three pairs of socks, and a pair of shorts that he knows won't fit you.

"Thank you, Sans."

"no, thank YOU for coming by so early, tori. we...didn't know what to do."

"Well, I don't expect you to. Neither does Frisk. But you did what you could, and that's what's important. Can you throw these in the dryer?"

"sure."

They trade clothes and you can feel the cold starting to seep back into your veins once again. Sans looks over at you and blushes a bit at the sight of you being stark naked under towels sitting in his tub; but moves on and closes the door behind him. You blush a bit too, but don't think much of it. Instead, Toriel helps you step out of the tub and begins drying your hair off.

"Please dress yourself."

And turns around while you do so. When you finally finish, San's hoodie hanging off your tiny frame, she picks you up in her arms and carries you out of the bathroom. She's warm. God. This is what mothers should feel like. Your eyes close but she gently rouses you awake by calling your name in a sing-song voice.

"Frisk...Friiisk...stay awake a bit longer, my child."

You hate it. You just want to fall asleep in her arms. In mom's arms. And sleep away the past three, horrible days. When your body begins to slacken in her arms, she rouses you then, too, until she's satisfied that you're holding onto her properly.  
She doesn't stop walking, though. She's pacing throughout the house to keep you awake. She's waiting for your body temperature to rise up again, you know, but sleep...it's so strong...you just want to sleep...

"Just a little while longer, my child."

It's getting harder.

Your eyes close again and your arms fall to your side. She picks up your hand and presses it to her mouth and breathes on it, trying to warm it up again. This time, she sits on the couch with you and you let your body slacken once again.

"Come on, Frisk. You have to warm up before you sleep."

Papyrus comes by and brings over the thickest, woolliest cover he can find and Sans is already working on starting up the fireplace.

"Frisk, please...you can't sleep." You feel her tears hit the back of your hand as she blows warm air on it again. Papyrus drapes the cover over the two of you and gets dressed to go outside and fetch their winter's supply of firewood. When the fire is up and roaring, Toriel switches from sitting on the couch to directly in front of the flames and hunches over you, trying to offer as much body heat as she can.

"love...y'guys..."

You say through chattering teeth and offer them as wide grin as possible. Toriel breaks down in sobs and hugs you tightly until you can't stand being awake anymore and fall asleep.

Comfortable. Fluffy. Exhausted. And very, very stuffy. This was your life now.  
You open your eyes and groan. The large...thing...beside you shifted...and pulled you closer. Groaning, you lift your head and see Toriel's large arm wrapped around you. She's sleeping, though she looks extraordinarily tired. Must have just fallen asleep. It feels as though your head has been forcibly stuffed with cotton and it's rasping against your skull.

Something crackles off to your side and startles you. It takes a few moments for you to control your heartbeat just enough to see that the fireplace had been lit and was gently burning up the final pieces of logs. Another crackle and the top log rolls off and into the ashes. Of course, noticing that the fireplace was so level with your eyesight and so close to you, you notice next that you've been sleeping on the ground with a pillow under your head a millions of covers layered over you.

It's too hot, but it's better than last night. You close your eyes again and begin to doze off once more. Your eyes have an immense pressure built up behind them; and your head is thundering furiously. You need more sleep.

The small movements were enough to rouse Toriel. She sits up and places a hand against your forehead. You open your eyes again and give her a smile. Of course, Toriel being Toriel, she gasps and digs you out from under the masses of covers to hug you tightly. She doesn't say anything just yet. When you hug her back, you make sure to grasp onto bits of her fur. Just to make sure that she was really real. You don't think you can handle it if she weren't.

"I'm here...I'm here."

And of course she knows just what to say. She pulls back a bit just to rub her nose against yours and then places a kiss on your cheek. She looks so exhausted...

"tori."

Toriel holds you close once more as she looks back at Sans. Sans is tired as well. He had been sitting on the couch the entire time, but whether he had slept or not, you can't be too sure. His entire posture says he hasn't.

"asriel will be home soon. why don't you go welcome him so he doesn't worry."

"But...Frisk..."

Sans waves a hand her way and walks over to the two of you and begins to pick up the covers one at a time. He deposits them onto the couch and gives Toriel enough time to stand up and crick her back as she stretches. The ground was no place for her to be...

Frowning, you stand as well and let Sans place his hands on your shoulders.

"we'll take care of the kid. papyrus should be home soon, and i'm sure the squirt here could use more sleep."  
You nod in agreement. Yes. Another hour or two of sleep sounded wonderful.

"don't let asriel come home to an empty house. asgore isn't home for the day, so he needs his mom."

She was distressed now. She was mom to two kids but you were here and Asriel was going to go home alone...?

"I'll be back later, Frisk, okay? I promise. I'll bring over Asriel too."

"get some sleep when asgore gets home. no rush. we got things covered over here."

Perplexed still, but reassured, she nods and hugs you one more time.

"I'd ask you to be good...but...be safe instead, won't you? Giving people a hard time...well...it will mean that you are well again."

You can't help but grin. She's not wrong...

"Then...I will leave for now."

Sans winks her way, acknowledging her departure, and the two of you follow her to the door to escort her out. She doesn't look back this time. You know you've hurt her too much within the last couple of hours.

"so."

Your cheeks burn up. You know what's coming up next.

"didn't kill anyone, did you?"

You shake your head.

"chara isn't loose?"

Another shake. There's no way you're going to let that demon run amok.

"good."

He closes the door and helps you to the couch, all the while you're grabbing at the shorts Sans lent you so that they don't fall off you. Snickering, he plops down on the couch and watches you clamber up while trying to hold onto the clothes. You sit there, almost dazed, with your mouth open as you stare at the fire. Everything is kind of mushy right now in your brain, and you want more sleep, but Sans definitely wants an explanation of what happened. He's staring at you and the moment you turn to look at him, mouth gaping open, he snickers.

"why the loooong face?"

That gets you. Shutting your mouth, you snicker back and lean back against the couch. He rolls his eyes and presses your head against his shoulder.

"you used to do that all the time. just because you're trying to be a hero in this timeline doesn't mean you don't get the same privileges as the last ones."

You let out another chuckle and can feel your body press even more into his.

"so?"

"Bone tired..."

He's stunned for a moment and then starts laughing. It's such an old one, but that doesn't mean it's not a good one. Right?

"wanna talk about it?"

"No."

He shrugs and then wraps his arm around you. With his other hand, he reaches over at the other end of the couch and tugs the sheets over you until you're completely covered up.

"sleep more?"

You nod.

"alright, then."

And close your eyes. He's worried. You can tell by the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, but you say nothing. It'd have to wait. So long as he knew that you killed no one and Chara was under control, then you were pretty much free to do what you needed to do to get better. Then his questions could be answered, if he even cared about them anymore.  
Unless...

"I can still live with you and Papyrus...?"

He freezes up and then draws in you in closer.

"yeah, kid. of course."

Smiling, you close your eyes again and let yourself be carried off into sleep. So long as you didn't have to go back to that miserable house, you were happy. And so long as you kept the murderous intent of Chara under wraps, he was happy. Everything else in the world could now wait a few hours.


	11. Fields of Gold

Fields of Gold

The house was brought to life by the sweet scent of cinnamon spices and sugar. Rousing from your sleep, you realize that Sans had left you to sleep on the couch all bundled up beneath the array of covers. Inhaling he smells, you stretch and a fuzzy face pops up from beneath you.

"Howdy! How're you feeling? Mom said you nearly froze to death! Does it hurt? What happened to your parents? Why are you back here? I mean, I'm really glad to see you but-"

Rolling your eyes, you purposefully slink off the couch and onto the tiny goat child. He lets out a cry of surprise under your weight and then starts laughing while trying to push you off.

"Frisk!"

"Oh no...I've fallen..."

"Frisk!"

"I cannot move. Poor Asriel."

He's really, really, REALLY weak, you notice. Once again, you're reminded that Asriel's more of a magic being than brute force like Undyne.

"YEAH, NOW GRAPPLE HIM!"

You open an eye to see Undyne cheering for you from way over by the door. She's layered in thick, thick clothes and covered in snow. Beside her is a frigid Alphys that swapped her regular lab coat for a long, white, woolen coat.

"UNDYNE! FRISK'S HEAVY."

Asriel shouts, trying to push you off again but only manages to nudge you. Grinning from ear to ear, you close you eye again and begin hauling the rest of the sheets over the two of you.

"FRISK, NO!"

"Frisk, yes."

Another wolfish grin and Asriel is letting out battle cries. He's so valiant in trying to move you...

"MOOOOM!"

"No fair..."

You whine. But you're not sure if anyone can hear you anymore. The covers are bundled over both your faces and you manage to squish your face against his cheek.

"Asriel."

"Frisk...?"

"Asriel..."

"Y-yes..?"

Your bring your hands up to his face and press your forehead against his.

"Love you, bro."

A Sans regular. But the reaction from Asriel was definitely not that of a Papyrus. He giggled and hugged you as tightly as he could. You hugged him back and grinned.  
The sudden vent of wind and light made the two of you stop in a heartbeat. Above you stood Toriel holding the lid of a pot and eyes wide.

"Oh my...are you two...wait. Wait, don't move. Oh goodness, I need my camera..."

"O-on your phone, Toriel."

Alphys helps, of course. She's removing her boots and blowing out puffs of snow from the cracks in her scales.  
With all the quickness that a mother could have, she dug out her phone from the front of her apron and began looking through it. All the while, Asriel's eyes shift over to you in a vain hope that you'd let go.

Not. A. Chance.

"There!"

The camera light went off a total of five times before she began looking over them triumphantly.

"Toriel, how do these mitts fit you?"

Asgore's voice comes from the kitchen. Her mood immediately sours and she turns on her heel to save her ex.

"Gonna let go of me now?"

Asriel asks. You do so and roll off him and onto your side. God, everything aches. At least your headache is gone. Everything just still feels like cotton.  
Asriel kicks the covers off and lays on the ground next to you; bunching his arms around his face.

"You feeling better?"

Nodding, you copy his actions and listen to the hubbub grow to tremendous levels in the kitchen.

"Hey, Frisk, can I talk to you about something? But...quietly...it's about Flowey."

Uh oh.

Nodding once again, he looks around to make sure that no one is within earshot and begins to speak in the lowest whisper possible.

"He...I can hear him, still...sometimes...like when I sleep...do you hear...Chara..?"

The name sends chills running up both your spines. Chara was Asriel's close friend. Just the mention of Chara's name makes him so uncomfortable. His face is already twisted in a mixture of sadness and worry and you know that the risk of Flowey's voice being present was a possibility.  
You nod.

"I can...feel Chara's emotions, sometimes."

You say, earning a deeper frown from Asriel.

"Me too..."

"Chara is under control, though...Sans knows...he's keeping an eye on me, too."

"Flowey's tells me that there's something in the ruins..."

Asriel's voice cracks. You know exactly what this is.

"You...did save everyone, didn't you?"

A third nod. Asriel doesn't look relieved.

"That doesn't make sense...what if...what if something's still in there...? Shouldn't we go check?"

"No..."

You already know what's inside the ruins.

"But the barrier...I can't hold up the barrier from here forever, Frisk."

This was bad. This meant that Asriel's magic was the only thing putting a stop on this war. But you don't know exactly what happened last time for the monsters to go berserk in the other timelines.

"It's just...I have a bad feeling...a really, really bad feeling...I can't explain it. I think it might be Flowey, but that's impossible...I'm Flowey." He stressed, gesturing to his chest with his hand. "So why am I hearing that voice?"

"Because...as much as I'm Chara, you're Flowey. The souls are still...together? As one? I messed up the timelines, Asriel..."

He nods. He's the only one who actually, truly understands one hundred percent about how the times go about warping and overlapping from time to time.

"We'll hear them forever, I think."

"There's no getting rid of them?"

"I don't think so."

You grasp onto his hand and give it a gentle squeeze. He looks so sad...

"But...Flowey asks me to kill people...Frisk, it scares me..."

You bring him in close to wrap your arm around him. Undyne is now yelling in the kitchen and you can also hear Papyrus telling her about keeping her voice down.

"I know. Me too. But I'll look out for you. If anything happens, I'll save you again."

His face instantly lightens up. You've done it twice now. He knows you can do it again. With a satisfied smile, he presses his head against yours and sighs.

"Thanks."

As long as Asriel kept a hold on the barrier, you knew you had time. He was definitely holding something back. Now you know. You just had to figure out what the catalyst was for everything else that would happen after.

"No problem."

You two share a smile before your stomach grumbles. A deep blush crosses your face and you look over at Asriel. His face is completely screwed up from holding in laughter. With a groan, you pull Sans's hood over your face and hide in shame as Asriel's laughter escapes in a loudness that almost pierces your eardrums.

"hey, kid. whenever you're done hiding, your clothes are on your bed."

Sans. Right on cue. You go to stand and sway to the side a bit. Of course, you're still a bit woozy, but you quickly overcome it and head towards the guest room (all while trying to hold up your large pants). Asriel stays behind to talk to Sans about something out of your earshot, but you can already guess it's about Flowey and Chara.  
Closing the door, you notice that on your pile of clothes is your cellphone. Furrowing your eyebrows, you pick it up and click it to life. Seven missed text messages and one missed call. The call was from an private number, so you had to let curiosity pick at it. But the texts came from everyone else.

"Hey, Frisk! Hope you're feeling better soon so we can watch anime together!"  
Alphys knew what you liked.

"HEY! Did you let the COLD beat you up!? WHAT THE HELL? You need to be STRONGER. NO MORE SKIPPING PRACTICE."  
Undyne, of course, had your best intentions at heart.

"Frisk, please take it easy for now. I will be there tonight to check up on you."  
Asgore? When did he get a phone?

"TINY HUMAN, I WILL BRING SOME WARMER BLANKETS TO YOU WHEN I GET HOME. UNTIL THEN...STAY FROSTY. DON'T TELL SANS I SAID THAT."  
Papyrus. He was perfectly capable of making bad puns, as well. He loved them, but would never admit it to Sans. But you knew Sans picked up on the stray pun Papyrus would slip into conversations from time to time.

"Frisk, please take care of yourself while I am gone. I love you very, very much.  
Love,  
Mom

]:)"

You place a kiss on your phone as a reminder to kiss her later on for her care.

"yo. i stole your phone back from your parents."

That...honestly answered every single question you had about how the thing ended up back in your possession.

"Horrible child. Do not ever come back."

You didn't read the rest. Your mom or dad had your number now. It was all a matter of time before they would bombard you with texts.  
Setting your phone down, you quickly dress in your strangely warm clothes (did someone just pull them fresh out of the dryer?) and see that Papyrus's cape is missing. You almost miss it. Then, looking down at Sans's coat, you're unsure if you want to hand it back right away. You sit on the edge of your bed and thumb the zipper. It's been like a security blanket for the past two days. You weren't sure if you were ready to be so dependent again. It felt nice to wake up with Toriel beside you. It felt...right. You tried so hard to push people away in this timeline that you forgot that you literally couldn't. They were family now.

A small smile fell on your lips. You could get used to a real family. Not the one you had for the past couple of days.

But, the fact remained that the jacket belonged to Sans and he looked pretty naked without it.

Exiting the room with better fitted clothes, jacket draped over your arm and shoving your phone in your pocket, you notice that the yelling had increased in volume. Asgore was laughing and Undyne was getting upset at something or other. The house was warm.

"gonna keep that?"

By now, you should know not to get so startled by Sans, but you still jump a little. You turn to him and hold out his coat, a small frown tugging at the corner of your lip. He sees it but takes his coat back anyway. Now you really feel naked.

"we'll go shopping to get you one that doesn't look so big on your shoulders."

"That was the best part."

He stops for a moment, as if to catch his breath, and starts laughing.

"jeez, you dork. let's go. tori's made potatoes and chicken for supper."

He reaches out and ruffles your hair with the widest grin you've ever seen him with. You return it with a small laugh as you latch onto his hand and try and pry it away playfully.

"Thanks for getting my phone back."

"snow problem."

A joke about snow...because it was snowing...

"Saaans...you can't make puns if I have to think too hard about it."

"snot my problem."

You gasp as your hands go to cover your nose and that, of course, sends him hollering with laughter.

"Not funny!"

He doesn't even give you the courtesy to stop laughing. Cheeks flushed with embarrassment, you march towards the kitchen, hand still covering your nose, to see Undyne and Asgore arm wrestling.

"Hello, Frisk! How are you feeling?"

Toriel asks you with a confused smile, looking at your hand covering your nose.

"Do...you need a tissue?"

You remove your hand and shake your head vehemently and, while everyone is busy watching the match, you walk over to her and hug her.

"Thanks for taking care of me last night."

Instantly, her heart melts and she hugs you back.

"You're my child. I will always take care of you. I would like to know what happened with your parents, though. Do you need to call them?"  
"No."

"Sweetie..." She was going to reason with you. Reason why you needed to call the people that locked you in your room and didn't let you out unless you had to go to the bathroom. The people who abandoned you on Mt Ebott in the first place. The people whom you never, ever wanted to see ever again.

"Frisk, you should call them. I'm serious. They need to know what happened last night."

"They know."

Her eyebrows furrowed together and she immediately pulled away. But you refuse to say more. Instead, you hop over to the table and watch intensely. Undyne had the table grasped firmly in one hand as she tried to wrestle Asgore's arm down but it would only shake instead.

"Time to eat. Finish your little game after."

Finally.

You. Were. Stuffed.

Asriel was poking at your rounded belly with childish glee until you swiped his hand away.

"That was delicious, Toriel. As always."

Asgore commented. It stunned her, least of things to say. She cleared her throat and began cleaning up the dishes without a word back to him. If Asriel were a light bulb, he would have shone at that.

"F-Frisk, do...you want to go shopping with me tomorrow?"

Shopping? That was almost foreign to you. So you nod.

"What about school?"

Toriel called from the kitchen. Your face fell. You haven't been in school in...

"I'm...not enrolled?"

Silence descends on them all. Asgore quickly swiped his hand back and forth across his neck as he shook his head 'no' quickly. You look over at Asriel and see him doing the exact same thing.

Hell was going to happen.

"Oh? Why not?"

"My...parents..?"

"Call them."

"What? No, I can't-"

"Frisk, darling, your parents are your parents. They will surely have an explanation, will they not?"

"WELL. I'LL TAKE ASRIEL HOME."

Asgore stood up quickly, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, and beckoned his son over.

"Come! Son of mine! Let's go!"

"Undyne w-we should go home, too."

"What? No way! This is about to get good."

You look over at Sans for help, but he doesn't even move. Not an inch. Not even a breath. He looked like a classroom skeleton. And Papyrus? Papyrus was taken off guard. He, too, was curious as to why you would run head first into him frozen to the bone.

You swallow the lump in your throat.

"Frisk, call them, or I bring you home."

You can't. Absolutely not. Absolutely, positively, not.

You shake your head.

"Frisk. I'm telling you, child."

Another shake. Asriel and Asgore are already out the door.

This was going to get out of hand. Fast. This was ridiculous. She didn't know and you couldn't tell her. You can't tell her. Not anything of that home.

And then you smile. You smile your Chara smile and take out your phone. Sans immediately pulls himself off the wall and is on guard.

"Here! Why don't you talk to them?"

You dial the number and hand the phone over to Toriel. She takes it, though looks completely...perturbed. Lacing your fingers behind your back, you wait almost patiently for the other end to pick up. But your gut is in so much turmoil that the only thing you can do is smile and bear it for a while longer.

"kid..."

You hold up a finger to Sans, signaling him to wait. The tension in the air is thick, and everyone finds a comfortable position to get in. Toriel getting angry was truly a sight to behold.

"Hel-"

"WHY ARE YOU CALLING?"

Everyone. Everyone. Can hear your mother's voice over your phone. Toriel's eyes widen and set onto you. She knows now.

"Excuse me, but who is this?"

"WHO THE HELL IS ASKING? THIS ISN'T YOUR PHONE, BUDDY. WHERE'S FRISK?"

She sighed. Maybe the situation wasn't as bad as she thought?

"Right here."

You say, almost gleefully. The voices suddenly quiet down in chatter. Toriel has to pull the phone away from her ear.

"They hung up?"

"Try it again!"

Her mouth forms a straight, pursed line. She is NOT happy. But she tries again, anyway. This time, the phone rings and no one answers.

"How odd...come, Frisk. We'll get you home."

"Don't you get it?"

Your smile falters a bit, but you patch that bad boy up right away. Sans steps forward and places a hand on your shoulder. Uh oh. You can feel yourself shaking now. That was the worst time to have a comforting hand rest on you.

Now, Toriel's upset. And she calls again. And again. And again. And again. Until finally, it rings so often that someone answers.

"I would just like to know where Frisk goes to school! It IS a school day tomorrow, isn't it? Frisk needs an education!"

She's yelling in exasperation. You can feel your body figuratively melting into the ground.

"IT DOESN'T GO TO SCHOOL, LADY."

Ohhh, there's Dirk's voice.

"YOU WANT TO SEND IT TO SCHOOL, YOU PAY FOR IT. WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT GARBAGE."

"What?"

"YOU HEARD ME. AND TELL IT TO NOT COME BACK. WE'RE NOT GETTING OUR DEPOSIT BACK BECAUSE OF IT."

Toriel hangs up. She's visibly upset. Everyone is quiet. But not you. You're practically beaming. Just because...well...you're not sure. You must be broken, for sure.

"I'm gonna pummel him."

Undyne said. Her voice was flat lined and face completely neutral. No one's ever seen her that devoid of emotion in a long time.

"O-oh my..."

"FRISK, DO YOU NEED TO SLEEP IN MY BED TONIGHT? WE CAN HAVE A SLEEPOVER!"

Papyrus offers. But you feel so cold, right now. You're not even focusing on anything more than keeping up your damn smile and not crying. Anyone would hate feeling unwanted.

Sans squeezes your shoulders and you wipe at your cheek to quickly hide an escaped tear. Toriel doesn't notice it. She's just staring at your phone in complete disbelief.

"I...brought you there?"

"you didn't know, toriel."

Sans says. Everyone in the room is aware of her guilt, now. It dawns on her how you stayed with that kind of family for even a few days.

"Frisk...my child...I'm so sorry..."

You shrug.

Oh.

No.

You told her that you'd been living with your parents all along...

"They just came home not too long ago. I was alone otherwise. It's not too bad."

In trying to reassure her, she becomes more distressed. Everyone does. And you can feel your cheeks burning hot with shame. You should have been honest to start off with. But the plan...

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry! You silly...thing..." She's bawling now. You want to reassure her, but Sans has a tight grip on you. He's worried about Chara. It's understandable. But you

just...fell back on training?

It's Alphys who's at Toriel's side and begins comforting her with gentle pats on her back.

Angrily, you turn on your heel and head for the door to cool off. You did a number on these people you cared about tonight. And you need to cool your head before you get mad at yourself.

But the moment you open the door, you see Asgore hunched over Asriel and trying to rouse him. Your eyebrows furrow together and quick as a whip, you go over to his side.

There, in his arms, was Asriel with a large grin over his face. His eyes were wide and close to him, he clutched a knife he had snatched from the table.

Asgore was bleeding.

Letting out a gasp, you look up around the streets and feel a chill run down your spine. A single flower had sprouted up in the middle of the Skeletons' walkway.

"It's started..."

You weren't ready. Not when you just started to enjoy everyone again. You weren't ready to fight right now. You were supposed to go shopping tomorrow..!  
Frozen to the spot, only your head turns down the ends of the street. Beds of golden flowers steadily began pushing through the blanket of snow.

"-ISK!"

Asgore yells your name, snapping you out of your stupor. He's crying.

"Asriel needs help!"

You can't even answer. Everyone needs help, now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that's all I have for now. Stay tuned for the next chapter coming up very shortly!


	12. It's in the Spores

It's in the Spores

You scramble back into the house and straight to the kitchen where everyone is still talking about what just happened. Papyrus is holding onto Toriel and giving her a pep talk and Undyne is being forcibly held back by Alphys. Who knew that the little scientist had that much strength in her?

"Sans!"

You yell, his eyes turning over to you. His expression changes immediately when he notices that you're shaking.

"what's up?"

"It's happening. It's happening right now. Come outside. Come look. Asriel...I think it's Asriel! I think he's the one controlling it all!"

"What about Asriel?"

Toriel's voice breaks. You grab her hand and drag her outside. She lets out a screech at the sight of Asgore's looming body and immediately thinks the worst. She bounds over to the two of them and slides to their side on her knees.

"No, no, not my family! Not again! Wake up, Asriel! What is going on? Are you...Asgore? You're bleeding! What happened? What's going on!?"

She's frantic. The whole Dreemurr family was...unlucky. To say in the least. By this time, everyone else is rushing outside to catch glimpse of the situation.

But you?

No.

You look back at Sans and frown. With one hand, you point to the flower on his pathway and sag your shoulders. His does too. And you copy his skeletal smile.

"This timeline...was pretty short, wasn't it?"

Normally, Sans would make a pun here. Something about having too much time on his hands or...or something about how everything happens just on time! But all Sans can do is fall to his knees in despair and look over at his brother with empty eyes. Of course, he'd be worried for Papyrus, but the timeline was far from over just yet. He just...he just needed to stay determined!

"ASRIEL! WAKE UP!"

"Your Majesty, you're hurt! Please come in!"

"THAT'S A LOT OF BLOOD."

All background noise. Noise, noise, noise. Pushing past Sans, you go back into the house and into the kitchen. Toriel kept her knives usually way up high, but you were no stranger to climbing. So you pushed a chair close to the counter, stepped up, and reached way up high over the fridge and grabbed a carving knife. Normally, Chara would be excited to feel it, but not this time. Chara was oddly silent.

Wrapping the knife in a cloth, you shove it into the hem of your pants and run back outside to see everyone trying to help Asgore to his feet. They really had no idea what was going on, or what was about to happen.

You pry Sans to his feet and push him inside.

"Sans, you have to listen to me."

He's almost shell shocked.

"Sans, please. You have to keep everyone in here. Lock the doors. Do you have a basement? You should go to the basement."

"kid..."

"Sans, I'm counting on you, please! I need to find the source. I reset to have this opportunity. I have to go, but you need to protect everyone. Please, Sans."

You're begging him. He absolutely won't move. So you know you can't either. You can't wait. Gritting your teeth, you run outside once again. Everyone's too busy with Asgore and Asriel to notice that you've fled the scene.

Vines and tendrils are pushing through the streets. They wrap around light posts and sprawl along houses. Children take notice of this and, as children do, they pluck at the golden petals and watch them fall to the ground.

They're all coming from the same direction. Mt Ebott. It's a hell of a hike, but you can smell the faint mist of monster magic beginning to fill the air. Dewey and sweet, but sharp and potent.

You round the corner to continue onto a main road and bump straight into a person and get knocked straight into the ground. Groaning, you rub your backside and look up to see Sans with his silly grin on his face.

"oh. you fell for me, didn't you?"

"Hard. We need to get to Mt Ebott."

"you got it, kid. let's take my shortcut."

He takes your hand, and you can begin to feel his 'shortcut' bend and shift around you. Then it stops. You're two feet from where you were standing.

"uh..."

"That was a pretty SHORTcut."

He's not laughing. In fact, he's actually sweating a bit.

"Sans?"

"what is this? did this happen in the other times?"

You shrug. It was...weird...something was stemming his magic for some reason.

"I dunno. It happened so quickly that we never actually reached Mt Ebott. We never actually rescued Asriel either."

He takes hold of your shoulders and shakes you a bit. You hadn't noticed your Chara smile take hold of you.

"In all honesty, Sans...I thought this was going to be the one...the one where everyone is finally saved...but I might have to hit reset after all."

"don't you dare."

"You'll beg me again. Like you did last time."

He falls quiet and then pulls you into a tight hug.

"where's that determination you had when you were underground, huh?"

You shrug a bit.

"Used up somewhere along the sixtieth reset. You know how it goes." You try and laugh but even he can feel how hollow it is.

"here."

He takes his coat off and draws it around your shoulders.

"since you liked it so much and you can't be getting hypothermia again."

You force a smile and hug the coat to your body. It's warm. It also smells of him - a mixture of grease and blue magic: frigid, heady, and almost glass-like.

Drawing newfound strength from this small gesture, you look up at Sans and give him an understanding nod. As you thread your arms through the jacket, you feel Sans's eyes linger on you. Flicking him a thumbs up, you catch glimpse of a familiar tall skeleton running your way.

"SANS! FRISK! WHY DID YOU LEAVE? ASRIEL HAS WOKEN UP! HE IS ASKING FOR YOU!"

Papyrus, regardless of the snow, runs without problems. Worry is etched into his face and you turn to Sans in desperation. If he knew that you were going to Mt Ebott, he would follow. That was the last thing any of you needed.

But...you never brought Papyrus with you before...

"Papyrus!"

"HUMAN!"

Once more, you run headlong into him and wrap your arms around his waist.

"I need your help."

"OF COURSE YOU DO!"

"kid..."

"I need you to drive me to Mt Ebott."

It was Christmas day. His eyes lit up. His jaw fell open. And before you knew it, he was running back home to get his car. Sans isn't happy.

"frisk..."

"Papyrus is a variable...if...if I bring him with me? It might change something. He might do something to help."

Sans can't help but sigh. Of course, he's terrified.

"you keep him safe, otherwise...otherwise you're going to have a bad time."

His eye flickers and you can taste the glass-like texture on your tongue. But you smile, anyways, and nod.

"I promise."

\------------------------------  
Your eyes darts left to right as you watch the flowers spring out of the ground in droves. Humans are curious enough to pluck them, but the monsters ignore them. They were too used to seeing them Underground. But you? These terrified you.

"WHY ARE WE GOING BACK THERE?"

"I need you to be my hero, Papyrus." You begin, his face growing hard with determination.

"I don't know yet, but it's going to be epic."

"I WILL NOT FAIL YOU, TINY HUMAN."

You would smile, but at the speed that the flowers are taking over, you feel your knees tremble. God, don't make this be another reset.  
Before you even reach the mountain, Papyrus comes to a slow and your attention focuses in front of you. A huge lineup of cars are stopped in front of you, bumper to bumper, and show no signs of moving. Heart thundering in your chest, you open the door and stand up on the seat and hang out of the door to try and see farther ahead.  
It's hard to tell, but it's definitely a monster. It's...a Vulkin? Or a...a weird version? You can't make it out properly, but it's not good. Hopping out of the car, you can hear Papyrus calling your name to come back, but you're already too far ahead. Moving down the line and weaving through the metallic beasts, you hear faint murmuring, then a scream, and then...

No...

Lava.

It skyrockets ten feet into the air before splashing down around the crowd. People are fleeing their vehicles and running away from the molten rock. Cars throw themselves into reverse and soon enough, you're finding yourself squished between the masses of metal and humans. Letting out a cry, you try and make yourself smaller to avoid any harm, but succeed in getting pushed out of the way and knocked to the ground.

Gritting your teeth, you push yourself up and try and find an alternate route through the screaming and shouting.

"FRISK! THERE YOU ARE!"

Papyrus, Oh, the Mighty Papyrus, heaves you up in one fluid motion and you're up on his shoulders.

"JUST LIKE SANS USED TO DO! WHERE TO?"

"Go straight ahead!"

Your hands cling tightly around his skull as the humans now do their best to avoid any other monsters. With Vulkin's spout errupting once again, the screams intensify and Papyrus does his absolute best to avoid any dangers.

"HEY, PUNKS, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"

Undyne's voice is easily picked out through the screaming and shouting. She's easily the loudest one there. You sit up and look behind to see her literally picking up cars and moving them out of her way.

She always chose the hardest way to do things.

Grinning, you wave to her and she thunders towards you.

Vulkin erupts yet again, but this time, you're closer, and you can taste the magic in the air. That familiar, heady magic that was almost delicious.

"WE CANNOT GET ANY CLOSER, HUMAN. I WILL NOT HARM YOU."

"Throw me. Like Sans does. You know, using your blue magic?"

"WHAT? SANS DID THAT? SANS IS TOO LAZY TO EVEN CONSIDER USING HIS MAGIC."

"Papyrus, please..."

Your begging does him in. He lets go of you, and your body is enveloped in a familiar frigidness and you ascend off his shoulders. Grasping onto the front of Sans's coat, you look back at Papyrus's glowing eyes and give him a nod. He doesn't throw you, but rather gently glides you closer to what once was a tiny monster.

Vulkin's gone berserk. The lovable nature of this monster is gone. Instead, it's screams and shudders in a molten mess on the ground. It's like it knows something has gone awry with it, but it can't help but continue to jet out lava and melt into itself.

Through the screaming and shouting, you hear it crying. And you want Papyrus to set you down so you can fight it or...or talk to it... but there's no physical way you can manage that without hurting yourself.

Looking around, you can see that not too far away, golden boughs of flowers are dancing in the wind.  
Before you can draw any sensible conclusion, your body is pulled backwards and Papyrus catches you in his arms just in time for Vulkin to erupt yet again.

"THAT WAS DANGEROUS!"

You cling onto him, eyes wide, and watch as the lava chews through the asphalt. Undyne is still shoving cars out of the way to create a human pathway, and Papyrus is taking cautious steps backwards.

"OH MY GOD. IS IT GETTING BIGGER?"

You take notice of the fragmented parts of Vulkin recycle the asphalt itself and patch itself into a larger volcano.

"I thought we had more time..."

You breathe. You can feel your heart crumbling in your chest at the sight. The Vulkin can't help itself. It's crying, but it can't stop itself from being torn apart and piecing itself together again.

You want to do something, but another eruption occurs and Papyrus is backing away yet again.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET OUT OF THERE!"

Undyne is screaming at you two. You want to help Vulkin, but he's destructing and reconstructing so quickly that you're unsure if it's even aware of what's happening.

"WE'RE GOING."

Undyne yells and grabs Papyrus's cape and begins to drag him away. She doesn't even take a second look at what's happening to the Vulkin. You know why...she's a sworn Royal Guard. She's there to protect monsters. Not watch them die...especially like that.

Papyrus catches his footing and begins running alongside Undyne, his face drawn back in sorrow, but he knows, too, that this is a lost situation.

"What's going on?!"

Undyne yells out as you come to a stop. She holds her arm out in front of you and Papyrus to stop you from going any further. Sweat forms on her brow as she calls forth a spear.

"Alphys, darling?"

"T-the pollen from the flowers seem to be overstimulating monster energy."

Alphys...?

You turn your head to see her standing right by Mettaton. She's holding onto a tablet and tapping away at the screen. You're not sure exactly what she's doing, but she seems set on it.

But...the more important question is why was she here in the first place?

"L-look. It's h-happening all over...just uh...closer to Mt Ebott..."

She holds up the tablet to show you live video footage of monsters going berserk everywhere. Papyrus leans in close, rubbing his chin and letting out dramatic 'hmmm's.'

"It's making us monsters look horrible! It isn't even our fault!"

Mettaton is genuinely distressed. He's not even bothering to pose dramatically or even flavor his speech; he just wants this nightmare to be over.

"So how do we stop it?"

Toriel's voice comes from behind a car. Okay. Something's up.

"We will stop this together, Frisk! You should have told us sooner!"

Asgore?

"no one wanted to be left behind after i explained what happened."

Sans.

Your back straightens up and Papyrus looks up at you with the widest grin known to mankind. He doesn't know exactly what's going on, but just the fact that everyone is together and willing to find out the cause of the empowered monsters.

Looking down at Sans, you notice that he's got this smarmy grin and you know, you KNOW, that he did this on absolute purpose.  
Frowning, you pat Papyrus's shoulders to signal him to put you down, but he doesn't. Instead, he holds onto your ankles a bit more tightly and shifts you around a bit.

"But..."

"W-we're determined, too!" Alphys holds her tablet close to her chest with one hand, and the other clenches tight.

"We're going to save everyone!"

Undyne clenches her fist right beside Alphys and places a hand on her should with a wide grin. It's cute. As much as Undyne likes to play the lean, mean, fighting machine warrior woman, she could be the cutest thing sometimes...

Alphys flashes her a grin and then checks on her tablet once more and begins flipping through different cameras scattered throughout the city. You watch as a harmless Moldsmal, walking along, leaves behind a caustic ooze in its tracks as gas pipes from somewhere beneath it's fur. Another camera had the Loox monster had begun growing to disproportionate sizes and casting off magic bullets in all directions. Loox, as well, wasn't dangerous. Just misunderstood, right? So seeing it taking down an entire street block with attacks that it couldn't control?

Well. It downright shook you to the core.

"How do we stop it?"

Toriel asked again, eyebrows knit tightly together. Asriel wasn't around, and you vainly hoped you could keep an eye on him, but first things first.

"We...need to find the source of the flowers." You begin quietly, facing Toriel with determination etched deeply into your face. She smiles softly, for just a few moments, and then her expression hardens yet again and she tests out a few of her flames.

Mom was scary when she was mad...

"D-don't go near the flowers!" Alphys warns in a louder voice than she intended. Undyne shot her a look and earned a small 'eep' from her as she hid behind her hands.

"I-I mean...it's just because...uh...they're dangerous, alright? The pollen is really, really potent."

"Nice thinking, Alphy!" Undyne gave her girlfriend a hard smack on the back and held her lance over her shoulder.

"Let's get to it, then! Let's find the source!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay in chapter. I moved out, got a new job, and now I'm having problems in the new apartment, so might move again depending on if the situation is fixed or not. Enjoy the short chapter in the meanwhile!


	13. Weight of Sin

When Papyrus sets you down, you can feel your heart well with determination. Everyone was behind you 100%. It was like last time, for sure, but never before had they been so in tune with the situation.

"Howdy."

The familiar voice sends chills running down your spine. It's obvious to who it belongs to, but the tone just...didn't sound like Asriel.

Inhaling deeply, feeling Chara laughing from just beneath the surface of your conscience, you turn towards Asriel. He's got this guilty look to his face that says it all. You knew all along that he was the anomaly to the timelines, and him being there right now? Looking the way he did? Miserable, small, and so very scared? He was behind this.

But...he looked so guilty, too. Shamed and downright downtrodden.

"I'm...Flowey...Flowey the Flower." Tears welled up in his eyes as he spoke. This was your brother. There was no way you'd let him cry on his own. So, you did what any sibling would do, and ran to wrap your arms as tightly as you could around them as they sobbed.

"I'm s-sorry..." he hiccuped. You squeeze him harder as he buries his face in the crook of your neck.

"I di...didn't mean...to..." He wailed. In that moment, you took more notice to the weight of the knife. Chara took notice of the sharpened blade. Squeezing your eyes shut, you remember that Asriel spoke of feeling Flowey's presence still.

"It wasn't you..."

"N-no..! Flowey..." he sobbed a bit harder and then continued, "I was so lonely...and F-Flowey helped..!"

Your brows furrow together. Flowey made him? Like how Chara made you hurt Sans?

Asriel can't speak now, he's shaking so badly. You have to wonder if he even understood the extent of the magic he possessed. And if he did, did he truly have control over it?

"Asriel, my child, what happened?"

Toriel, mom, wrapped her gentle arms around the two of you. She places a kiss on top of Asriel's head and pulls away with an understanding smile.

"I let Flowey use my magic to m-make friends..." Another hiccup and he buries hiis face deeper into your shoulder. Frowning, you place your hand on his head and ruffle his fur.

"The flowers are all alive...I di-didn't know Flowey would do this! I promise! I thought that I'd just have someone else to talk to...but then when the barrier started weakening, they started growing stronger..."

"Oh, my foolish child...what have you done?"

Toriel was aghast. You take a quick look at her face and see it horror-filled. You're not used to that. Of course she'd be taken back by her son doing something so...vile. The effect of his loneliness was caustic. Around you, monsters were inhaling the golden pollen without knowledge and they grew rampant. Everything you fought for, everything the monsters fought for, was all nullified with the outbreak. It'd set monsters back. Worse yet, humans could seal them back Underground; away from the sun and stars.

"I tried keeping them in! I tried and I just got so tired of holding up the barrier, mom...p-please don't be mad at me. I couldn't do it anymore."

Car sirens blared in the distance. Horns honking, house alarms going off, and screaming littered the air. Fire and blasts could be seen from where the group stood. It was clear that something needed to be done, but it was still unclear as to what that was.

"well." Sans cleared his throat, holding his arms up to both his sides, "i guess we've one hell of a mess to clean up, huh kid?"

You had to pull away from Asriel. He had to face the family standing behind him all the way.

"No one blames you, Asriel."

Asgore spoke up, earning a yearning look from his son. Kneeling down to the ground, Asriel left your arms and bounded over to his father in a hug. You share a brief look with Toriel and purse your lips.

"So...the m-magic is yours? In the flowers...and th-they're alive?" Alphys gulped, shaken right down to her core. Mettaton had placed both his hands on her shoulders and gave them a tight squeeze.

Asriel nodded.

"Do...does Flowey control them?"

Another nod. Asriel didn't have control over them after all...

"There's gotta be a way to freakin' stop these things!"

Undyne took a few steps towards Asriel, whom promptly retreated further into his father's embrace, and shrugged.

"I don't know..."

Silence hung in the air. There had to be a solution. Some sort of resolution to this conflict...  
Crossing your arms, you watch as Toriel approaches her son and brings him in her embrace as well. Papyrus and Undyne share uneasy looks. They shared the responsibility in protecting monsters, but this was something that could very well be way out of their league. Sans, though...Sans stares at you. He's expecting something grand out of you. Something only you can achieve with the sort of determination that took Flowey down in the first place.

"Can you speak to Flowey?"

You ask, a small, feeble idea hatching.

"Why..? I try to ignore him..."

If Asriel had no control over his own magic, this sort of powerful, untapped magic that vitalized the flowers, and Flowey did?

"Just wondering..."

You look back over at Sans and see him grinning still. Unmoving. Eye sockets void of his usual pupils. He's worried.  
A metallic clang rang through the air and, before you can even register what's going on, Papyrus and Sans are both using their magics to yank everyone to the ground all at once. Somewhere in the mess, Papyrus had launched his arms around Sans to keep him safe from whatever thing had soared above them.  
When the metal clangs again, you feel the magic leaving your body and you look to see a large aluminum sheet had crashed into a nearby post. Most likely it belonged to the side of a house. This also meant that a monster was nearby.

"I-it's not like I can stop myself!"

You immediately recognize it to be Tsunderplane. Its metal wings had collapsed in on itself and nose had been completely splayed open. Its jet engines were completely revealed and were in overdrive. A few seconds after it flew overhead, snow, pollen, and other bits of debris picked up and flew overhead.

"D-don't breathe it in!"

Alphys's voice was barely heard above the booming of the Tsunderplane. Everyone covered their mouth and nose immediately after that, Asriel being helped by Asgore. You know you don't need to, but know that if this plane can create such a destructive force here, farther out would be worse. Especially in the more populated areas.  
You get to your feet, ignoring Toriel's muffled yells, and ran back towards the mountains of debris. If you could find some cloth to block out the pollen, they could move more freely and without worry.

'You can feel me, can't you?'

There's the voice you haven't heard in a long time. Well, it hasn't been long enough, but you know it.

'You can! About time! Howdy!'

That voice curdled your blood. But maybe...

'You're thinking about using me against Flowey, aren't you?'

Yup. You were. If you could use Chara to draw out Flowey...

Not right now, though. Now, you had to just get some scarves for your friends and block them from inhaling the toxic pollen. You can't lose them to something that you could barely see. Going through an abandoned car, you take out an abandoned ski mask and long, purple scarf. You return to Toriel and wrap the scarf around her mouth. Then you go to Asriel and tug the hat over his head. A few more to go. Even Mettaton needed to be careful-he was made of magic. Once they were covered up, Toriel and Asriel began looking around for other articles of clothing for the others. Papyrus catches on quickly and ties his cape around his mouth, Undyne doing the same with her scarf. You manage to find a long rainbow colored scarf under a car and you scurry over to tie it around Sans. He coughs into it a few times and you look over to Asriel tying a sweater around Alphys's mouth, Toriel gingerly wrapping a large cover around Asgore, and Mettaton brought up a metallic shield covering over their mouth and nose.  
Satisfied, Sans's hand holding onto your shoulder, you take hold of his arm and give him a stern look. He's shaken to his very core. He's worried. You can tell with the look on his face that he's struggling to find words.

"I will only reset if people die."

You reassure him. For once, he looks relieved at the thought, and then looks over to Papyrus with a faint smile.

"papyrus is pretty strong, isn't he?"

You nod.

"The strongest. You should see him really in action when he's focused."

His hand pats your back hard, and you know that he agrees wholeheartedly with you. Rubbing at your cheek, you stick your hand in your pocket and give a small laugh. Determination builds up in your chest and you know that you've got a shot at this timeline.

"We need to stop some of these monsters and minimize the damage."

Toriel began, pulling away from Asgore and looking down at her son.

"And then we must get the remaining ones to safety." Asgore added, looking straight at his ex-wife. You can't help but smile a little. As much wrong as Asgore had done,

Toriel seemed to begin warming up to him all over again.  
Just as you feel the smile spread across your face, loud banging echoes down the road and the sky lights up a bright orange and red. Everyone is entranced by the colors against the dark sky, but you feel your heart sink. Then, following the brilliant display, the smell of gunpowder wafts through the air. Turning towards Asriel, you see his entire body scrunch up to try and be as tiny as possible. You can't blame him.

'Yes, you can.'

Chara could. But you're Frisk. Not Chara.

"THAT...DOESN'T LOOK GOOD..."

"Gunfire..." You speak softly, feeling your throat tighten. "Please...be careful."

Your eyes fall onto Undyne and Alphys and you cringe a bit. You think about telling them how they died, but you know that'd be eerie.

"Alright, LET'S GO! PAPYRUS! YOU'RE WITH ME!"

"GOT IT, UNDYNE!"

Papyrus; gentle Papyrus, saluted and began at a charge towards the direction where the Tsunderplane had headed. Sans's hand disappeared from your back and he was gone - presumably to follow his brother.

"Alphys, please take Asriel and Frisk somewhere safe, will you not?"

"Y-yes! We'll get to safety and let you know where to find other monsters!"

Her tablet trembled in her hands, but you saw how determined she was to her task.

"I'll lead them to safety in case something goes wrong."

Mettaton steps up, and before you know it, he's ushering the three of you away from the scene. Left behind was Asgore and Toriel, whom spoke quietly between each other and then shared a brief hug before parting ways.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------  
Running from the crime scene, you watch at the vines make their way further into the heart of the city. Blooms spring to life from the tendrils and, with an effervescent glow, begin to shake off their golden pollen. If only you could coax Flowey out to control these things...Chara would be more than willing to come out and play with an old friend.

Hell, why not give it a go..?

You eye Asriel beside you. And then Chara smiles. And he smiles.

"Howdy, Flowey."

"Idiot. Don't greet me like this simpleton does."

You can feel your sins crawling on your back. You know what you've done. What you're doing. And as Chara leaks out ever so slowly, you can tell that the dam holding Flowey back had long since been gone.  
His face spreads in a menacing grin and then disappears; replaced by Asriel's disturbed face.

"What are you doing?"

"You can stop this, can't you? Just let Flowey out. We can play again. Just like old times, Asriel."

You know what you've done. The faucet has been opened and now there was no stopping the reunion between Chara and Asriel/Flowey.

"Wh-what are you two talking about?"

Alphys stops mid-stride and Mettaton bumps into her. You and Asriel stop and stare, and he's absolutely shaking in his boots. He remembers Chara's grin. The reason behind it. The whole mischief and mayhem sort of deal that followed Asriel like the plague.

"Frisk?"

You need to take the back seat. You need to draw out Flowey. You need answers, how to defeat the flowers, how to make everything normal once again. But Flowey was the key to this mystery.

"Frisk isn't here anymore, Asriel. Remember the games we used to play? With all these wonderful golden flowers!?"

Your arms spread out to your sides as you gesture to the blooms around you. Mettaton immediately pulls Alphys away from the situation and shoves her behind him. He knows better than to get in your way. In Chara's way.

"Darling, Asriel, come here. Frisk isn't normal..."

"SHUT UP!"

Asriel's face upturns into another chilling grin. Flowey's grin.

"You don't know anything, you idiot!"

Asriel's hand raised and the vines around began slithering closer to the two other monsters. Your heart skips a beat. You're not going to let this happen, no matter how much Chara would love it. Yanking the knife out of your pocket, you dash towards Asriel and raise the blade high above your head. You're not going to lose these two to stupid plants.

The knife strikes air. Vines are wrapped around your wrist and Asriel's got a look of pure horror written across his face.

"Frisk? What's going on?"

"I told you! Frisk isn't here right now." What a bad lie. You were sharing the driver's seat with Chara, and so sloppily too. Whenever you push Chara out of the way, they fight back for the driver's seat. And you had to indulge a bit otherwise you knew that Flowey would never stay out long enough to...to...

"You need to reabsorb aaaaall your magic, Flowey! Maybe then you'll actually stand a chance against me!"

Chara giggled and, without much effort, broke free of the vines and managed to cut open Asriel's cheek. His hand flew up to his wound and he stared at you completely aghast. In retaliation, he threw a weak flame at you. But with the resets you'd gone through? The flame didn't even make it close to you.

"You're stronger than that, Asriel! I know you. Right, friend?"

"I don't wanna do this, Frisk...stop, please..."

It wasn't working. Chara wasn't drawing Flowey out like you'd hoped. It had started, but Asriel was just...not letting it happen. He wasn't letting go.

"Fight me!"

Your voice is almost sounds like it doesn't belong to you. In short, it isn't. It's Chara's...but...it is.

"No!"

Asriel's sobbing again. And like the protective sibling you are, you mentally toss Chara aside like trash and regain complete control. If only it were so easy the last times...but no. You were just lucky to have caught Chara off guard this time.

"I'm sorry..."  
You hug him, but Chara is angry. So very angry that you shoved them out of the driver's seat so quickly and easily. Your hand flies up to your head as you feel Chara pushing through again. Okay, maybe that wasn't the brightest of your ideas. But if anything, it had started to work. Maybe later...  
You look up at Mettaton protecting Alphys and saw his brows drawn together in dedication to protecting her from you.  
You'll try again when he wasn't present. Or anyone else that could get hurt, for that matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I moved back home! The apartment didn't work out, so I should update more frequently. Enjoy! And thank you everyone for all the reviews! Love you!


	14. Loox like Trouble

Alphys, hunched over her tablet, is guiding Mettaton through the dangerous streets via radio she installed in him. Asriel is tucked under your arm, sleeping, and you know you can't remain in the safety of a stranger's basement while warfare exploded just a few feet above you. Looking down at Asriel, you shake him awake and wait for him to rub the fatigue from his eyes.

"Frisk...?"

You purse your lips and nod as you stand, bringing Asriel level with you.

"You need to reabsorb your powers, Asriel...this is your magic. A lot of people will die if you don't..."

His eyes grow wide and you know that he's on the verge of tears again.

"I can't..."

"Flowey, then. I'll help you. Chara will bait Flowey out..."

Your hand grips onto your temple again as a stab of pain hits. It's Chara fighting to gain control of you, but you can't afford to let them gain control.  
Asriel looks over to Alphys for help, but she's too busy flicking through her different cameras. Frowning, you shake Asriel's shoulders in effort to coerce him into agreeing with you, but he remains still as a stone.

"Oh, sweetheart, there's Undyne alone...where's Papyrus?"

You hear Mettaton's metallic voice and purse your lips. Your hands leave Asriel and you know you've gotta help somehow.  
But you helping somehow meant trying to get Asriel to reabsorb his magic; effectively killing the 'live' flowers. Gnashing your teeth, you run over to Alphys and her tablet. You can't help it. You need to know if Undyne is alright on her own.

"I-is she safe?"

Worry laced the saurian's voice. Her spear is gripped only loosely in one hand and she looks...unstable. Grimacing, you see that she's bleeding in some places and her scarf is missing from her mouth. Her gills are glowing a bright yellow color, and you mentally hit yourself at the sight of her sluggish demeanor. She was a fish, for crying out loud. Her gills helped her breathe...meaning if she didn't cover that up too...  
"She's infected..."  
Alphys looks over at you with wide, watery eyes. Her body begins trembling violently, and her sobs soon follow.

"Undyne!"

Mettaton calls out to her and you watch as he catches her just as she tips over backwards. Her breathing is ragged. You can see just how badly it is with Mettaton being so close to her. Yellow pollen had polluted her gills in large clumps. You can see that she tried scratching it out to no avail. It glittered in between her scales and under her nails. Alphys turns to look at you, horror-stricken, and another reset is already coming to the front of your mind.

"Mettaton, get away from her!"

Your voice leaves you before you can stop it. You're thinking of preserving as many friends as possible. But the robot won't have it.

"Not a chance, darling. This will be good for reviews."

His voice is strong and determined, and Undyne is held even closer to him. He turns away from the spot and, from what you can tell, he begins to run to safety. Alphys doesn't change screen to observe the other monsters. Her eyes are glued to the screen as thick globules of tears sloppily leak down her face.

"Wh-wuh...what do we do...?"

She asks you, expecting an answer. You don't respond. You don't know how to. You know the answer should lay with Asriel, but he wasn't able to without Flowey.

"Mettaton..?"

Alphys nearly screeches as her girlfriend comes to life. She groans and grips onto her sides and, what you can only imagine to be, bones begin to crack. Her mouth hands open and Mettaton is forced to let go of her. Teal ooze begins to seep through her gills. Then from under her eye patch. By now, Alphys is livid and screaming at the tablet for Mettaton to help her. But he knows he can't.

"DO SOMETHING! HELP HER! DO SOMETHING, P-PLEASE!"

You want to restrain her, to help her calm down, but her girlfriend...her love...suffering in front of her? There was no way you could fathom even being remotely able to ease her pain.

So you watch. You watch with the most expressionless face you can muster, though the tears are hot behind your eyes. It wasn't supposed to go this way.  
Undyne is screaming, now, as she claws at her gills with one hand and covers her eye with the other. Her bones continue to creak and groan until she's hunched over on the ground, coated in a teal slime, and crying in pain. Her spears begin to form around her and, true to the nature of the pollen, begin to morph into something else. At first, they began melting in on themselves until large spheres formed. Then they tried regaining their original shape. Tiny spikes formed on the balls and, with a scream, they shot out in all directions. Mettaton did his best to avoid the majority of them, but one definitely had hit him. You could tell by the way the camera zoned out of focus for a solid two minutes.

That and Alphys screaming something about his energy levels.

You can't bear to watch anymore. Alphys is in a violent fit and slumps over in defeat. SHE can't even bear to watch anymore.

You go to place a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, but she smacks it away.

"J-JUST..." she hiccups, "just go away..."

Over Undyne's screaming, now turned into more of a grotesque moaning, and Mettaton's crackling, you know that this timeline was taking the same road as the others.

You needed this to stop.

Snapping around to where Asriel was, you notice that he had taken off. Gnashing your teeth, you break into a sprint. You can't let him out of your grasp. You owed everyone that. You feel like...like a monster, for trying to get Asriel to do what you needed him to do. But you couldn't let them all die because he was scared. Hell, you were scared, too. But not trying was scarier, and giving up was totally out of the question.

Leaving Alphys alone in the house, you run outside to see the air thick with smoke, snowflakes, and pollen. Teeth clamping shut, you look around to find any traces of the youngest Dreemurr. Little, Dreemurr footprints leading away from the house were easy enough to spot, but Asriel himself was nowhere in sight.  
Sprinting, following the footprints, you feel the weight of the knife once more in your pockets. You hate it.

"DOOON'T LOOOOOOK..."

A sudden force knocks you sideways into a nearby bush. A Loox, now made up completely of an eyeball with multiple pupils, had sent an attack your way. It caught you off guard. Not again. Breathing in, you turn your head away from it and try and outrun it. Garbled yells escape from it's...mouth? Where was it speaking from?  
You just barely dodge another attack and dive under a car for protection. Rolling out to the other side, you scramble on all fours to the safety of another nearby bush and wait for the next attack.

"IIII SEEEEE YOU LOOOOKIIIIIING!"

Four pupils, all facing forwards, all rest their gaze on you. Without giving you a chance to breathe, it sends forth a flurry of circular orbs your way. Scrambling to your feet, your body automatically avoids any direct attacks. Like you've practiced time and time again. Left side-step, right, left, roll tot he ground-

"Ah!-"

A blow grazes your shoulder and blood immediately floods the area. Stunned for a moment, you barely manage to react to the next attacks. Your hand flies to the wound, trying to stem it, worried about Sans's hoodie, and you dive out of the way of another flurry. Gnashing your teeth once more, you look around in attempt to find other cover of some sort. Bushes didn't cut it.

You gaze once more at Loox, your heart thumping wildly in your chest, and you take off in a sprint once again. More attacks flew your way, but if you stayed, you knew that it'd have more of a chance of hitting you again.

"LOOOOOOK!"

For some idiotic reason, you turn back and do so. As more bubbles fly your way, you notice that you were in direct line of a tree.

"Just let me fight for you."

You had half a mind...

Dodging out of the tree's way, you round a corner behind a house and dive into a dog igloo. If you stayed quiet, it wouldn't find you. You'd have enough time to recuperate and retrace your steps to where Asriel fled.

"IIII DOOON'T SEEEE YOUUUUU..."

It's voice, grinding and sorrowful, echoes around you. You cover your mouth and keep your eyes focused on the ground in front of the dog house. Snow crunching under Loox's feet passed close, and then disappeared. You could hear it still calling out to you, but you had successfully fled it. You just couldn't risk going out right away.  
Wincing, you squeeze your shoulder wound and take the opportunity to look over at it. It looked worse than it felt, but you had to credit that to the cold weather. At least that would stem the blood properly in due time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but action heavy. Enjoy!


	15. And It All Falls Down

And It All Falls Down

Slowly, woozily, your eyes pry apart. You feel like hell. Groaning, you crawl out of the igloo and rest on your stomach for a few moments. Darkness had fallen, but the skyline was shaded with red and orange hues. You don't know when you passed out, but it had to have been for a while considering that your shoulder had successfully stopped bleeding. With another groan, you push yourself to your knees and let out a long breath. God. Where did it all go wrong? There was supposed to have been more time.

Deciding that it was time to continue on, you stand tall and begin your dogged march forwards.

You have to wonder what's going on with everyone else. Where were they; what were they doing; were they okay?

Undyne's screams echo in your mind. You can't forget it. Last time she was gunned down. This time was pollen. Maybe...hopefully...she could still have a chance if things were reversed.

Wishful thinking.

You let out a small chuckle and listen to the sounds of snow hitting the ground. Avoiding the major routes was the way to go, but the direction had become ambiguous. All traces of Asriel had been lost to the snow and

Sticking your hands in your pockets, you turn your attention towards Mt Ebott. That was the way to go. If the young prince had any sense of ownership to the problem he had created, he'd head in that direction.

There's no sense in running anymore. The original damage had impacted everything. All that was left was salvaging the situation. As cynical as you had become, you know that this was the harsh reality. After experiencing it so often, you've become so...tired.  
Just like Sans.

Knuckling your eyes, you push back the tears and remain determined. Your name is Frisk. Everything might be hell now, but you are the only one with the power to make it all right again. You've accepted this responsibility many, many, many time jumps ago. No matter what, you've lives to save.  
\--------------------

The smell of food vents out of a house and your stomach reminds you that you're famished. Clutching at your stomach, rubbing your eyes, you want nothing more than a hot meal and for everything to go back to normal. But you know better. Things are far from normal and you're pretty much on your own for the most part.

"SANS!"

Your head perks up at the voice. It's Papyrus. It's definitely Papyrus.

Your feet carry you towards the direction of his voice. Around the bend, between two houses, over a fence...

You stop to catch your breath and your bearings. Papyrus's voice is lost, but the familiar glassy taste of blue magic is thick in the air. You're close, at least.

An immense heat builds up around you closely followed by a tall pillar of fire that shoots straight up into the sky.

Okay, that's gotta be the way.

If you could fly, you would. Coming to a clearing, you see that Sans's body is lifted up off the ground, thanks to his brother, and fire is exploding towards him. Papyrus brings Sans into his chest, and dodges off to the side.

It's a Pyrope. All tied up in its own rope and spewing fire from its top. It points towards Papyrus and Sans once more. One look at them and you can tell that they're exhausted. Letting out a gasp, your arms open wide, you run into the Pyrope and knock it backwards with your good shoulder.

"HUMAN!"

Your hands tangle in the rope as your grapple it to the ground, astounded at your own capacity, and your feet dig into the ground. You're not sure what to do, really, beside redirect the flame away from the brothers. They needed time to recuperate-

"get down!"

Pushing the Pyrope away from you using your feet, yanking your fingers free from the rope, you hit the ground and cover your head just in time to avoid a blue beam belonging to Sans's Gaster Blaster and a wall of bones form around you; protecting you from the blaster's residue damage. When the blue light fades, bones clack out of your way and reveal a mound of grey dust behind you.

"FRISK!"

"damn it, kid!"

Uncovering your head, you look up to see the Skeleton brothers racing over to you. And as you sit up, scanning them, you notice that Papyrus's clothes are singed and and his skull charred. Sans has some cracked bones here and there, but you can tell that Papyrus was doing everything in his power to guard his brother with everything he had.

"what are you doing here?"

"Saving your butts."

Clearing the snow and soot off your chin, you take a glance back at the pile of dust and frown. It doesn't bother you as much as it used to, but it still does. And by the looks of Sans and Papyrus, it bothers them a hell of a lot, too.

With a loud 'oomph,' Papyrus's knees dig into the ground and he has you in a bear hug. Your frown deepens as you return the gesture and pat his back at the same time. He's not used to this. Not at all.

"aw, pap, it's okay...don't cry. we had no choice..."

Oh...he was crying...

Sans doesn't even believe in his own words. He plops on the ground beside you and rests his head against Papyrus's arm, exhausted.

"HE DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE, EITHER."

Papyrus shouted, louder than usual. When he pulled away, he took hold of Sans and kept him tight under his arm. Contrary to his personality, Sans didn't mind the extra care that his brother was giving him.

"Asriel's run away. I think he went back to the mountain, but i'm not sure. I'm going after him, though...just...stay safe?"

"THAT'S OUR LINE TO YOU. YOU'RE HURT!"

Your hand flies up to your shoulder to cover the wound, but it's pretty apparent with the blood-soaked coat. Casting a strained smile to them, you shrug and nod a few times.

"Nothing I couldn't handle..."

"have you seen anyone else?"

Sans asks out of the blue. God, he's barely hanging onto consciousness. His eyes begin closing but he forces them open every few seconds.

Unfortunately, you nod.

"Undyne...Mettaton...the pollen got to Undyne and she attacked Mettaton...I don't know where they are..."

"WE HAVE TO FIND THEM!"

Papyrus doens't miss a beat. Until, that is, he looks down at his brother and his dedication to the cause suddenly wavers. Sans is in no shape to be going anywhere. One misstep and...

Better not to think the worst.

"We should get somewhere safe for now."

Meaning they should get somewhere safe.

"While we look for that bratty kid."

Chara's voice burns the front of your head. Out of sheer reaction, you press your palms to your forehead and groan. This was going to get out of hand if you let them win control right now.

"frisk?"

"It's okay."

You're not sure if you even reassure yourself, but the important part is that he agrees with you. Papyrus scoops his brother in his arms and looks around with tired eyes.

"WE SHOULD TRY AND CALL THE OTHERS."

A great suggestion, but you had no phone to speak of. Sans is prepared, though. He pulls out his phone and begins the mass calling as the three of you begin to make your way to a nearby house, hoping that it'd be unlocked.

"tori? is everything alright?"

Mom!

Your heart leaps and you visibly react to her muffled voice on the phone, earning a chuckle from Sans.

"the kid's here, too. i think a bit eager to talk to you. here ya go, pal."

Greedily, you snatch the phone from Sans and press it to your ear.

"Mom?!"

"I am glad you are safe, my child."

That does it. The dam of tears you had held back breaks and your face screws up. Before long, you're sniffling and she's trying to comfort you as best as she can.

"I'm fine, my child. I am with Asgore. We are safe and sound."

You try and pull yourself together long enough to say something, but it's nearly impossible. Relief floods your very being and it takes Papyrus to gently pry the phone away from you so he can give it back to Sans.

"yeah. it's been a long day...kid's tired...i think we're all overwhelmed, tori...uh...i think frisk's shoulder is pretty messed up but we can't tell...no...no...stay safe. we're going to lay low for a while. 'bye."

He closes his phone and begins the next call, allowing you time to cry on your own for a few moments. Sometimes, it was better to just let it all out than hold it in and wait until it's too late.

"LOCKED..."

Papyrus jimmied a door handle and began making his way to another house. His walking was staggered, but he kept going. It was admirable, really, the way he was determined to get his loved ones to safety despite his own fatigue.

You make a mental note to tell Undyne that she was wrong. Papyrus was ready to be part of the Royal Guard, after all. With having done what he did to the Pyrope to keep him and Sans safe...

Well...

If Undyne ever were to recover...

"alphys isn't answering. neither is mettaton. and undyne...well...i don't think after what you told us that it's worth trying to call her..."

The words cut you deep, and through several sniffles, you nod.

"OH, THIS DOOR IS WIDE OPEN? EXCUSE US, HUMANS. WE ARE JUST LOOKING FOR-"  
As you step through a house, you're greeted with the scent of something burning. The scary part? It isn't foreign to you. Not after you'd reset...

"We better leave..."

You whisper, taking hold of Papyrus's arm and holding him close. He makes you feel safe, but there's something else you should be keeping him safe from.

"NONSENSE! THE DOOR WAS OPEN TO GREET US! HUMA-"

You tug Papyrus back with all the strength you have in you and he tumbles backwards. Out of the corner of your eye, you see something charred sticking out of the corner of the room and you do your best to block it from Papyrus's view.  
"Papyrus...not here...trust me on this one."  
You can see his eyes bunch up in question, but he doesn't ask.

"WELL...OKAY...I GUESS...I TRUST YOU, HUMAN."

He goes to stand, groaning in effort, and stays hunched over for a moment. That's when you notice that he's really on his last legs too and needs rest. Sans eyes you worriedly, unsure of what the smell is himself, but knows better than to distrust you for this one.  
It takes about an hour before you find a house that's completely abandoned and without funky smells to it. Sans is fast asleep in his brother's arms, and so Papyrus sets him down on the couch while you lock the doors and close the blinds. The taller skeleton heaves a heavy sigh as he flops down into another couch and leans his head back, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"You can sleep for now. I'm not tired, so I'll take the first watch."

You say, approaching Sans and taking his scarf from his mouth. You make sure that the outside doesn't touch any part of you as you toss it in the sink; and then you gingerly so the same to Papyrus's cape. He watches you with a small frown as you add dish soap to the two articles and wash the pollen away from it with hot water.

"IS UNDYNE REALLY..."

You don't even acknowledge the question. That in itself affirms Papyrus's worst fear. His best friend was lost. He goes quiet and you're left to your washing. Maybe you'll be able to make something to eat. It'd lift some spirits, wouldn't it?

You steal a brief glance over to the two brothers, noting that they were now fast asleep. They deserved it. Wringing out the cape, you inspect it closely to make sure no stray spores lingered in the fabric. Only then did you hang it over a nearby chair to allow it time to dry. After doing the same with Sans's rainbow scarf. Looking down, you decide that it's best to wash the blood out of Sans's coat. As you try and peel it off your bad shoulder, blood begins to gush out at an alarming rate. You have to accredit it to the fact that your blood was finally warming up inside. You quickly remove the rest of the coat and press a nearby wash cloth to it. You drag a chair nearby to the sink and open the water once more before taking a seat. Your hands, covered in blood now, dab at the open wound furiously to at least try and wash it right. You grab another nearby cloth and replace the bloodied one on your shoulder with the new one; tossing the soaked-through one in the sink under the water.

"Pathetic..."

Chara's voice is even stronger in the quiet. But you barely acknowledge the voice and continue the cycle of washing your wound with fresh cloths. After about five minutes, you manage to stop the bleeding enough to actually see the wound. It was a stupid, circular gash with a good chunk of skin missing. Pursing your lips, angry at yourself for even getting hurt in the first place, you search the kitchen area for something to wrap your shoulder with. With nothing in sight, you finally turn off the water and make your way to the bathroom. Finding a towel, you put one end under your foot and tightly hold onto the other end. Firmly tugging it, you rip the towel in half. It's still too wide. So you do it once more until you're satisfied with the length and width. As if you'd practiced it, you throw the strip of towel over your shoulder and wind it three times before tying it off. At least that was dealt with. Honestly, it seemed to be more trouble than it was worth.

"that's going to slip off."

Sans.

You turn your head back and see him standing in the doorway with tired eyes. Without another word, his thin fingers begin to undo the too-tight knot you made. He then gingerly unwraps the cloth with one hand and holds your arm out ever so slightly with his other. Placing it against the wound once more, he begins winding it more snugly against the wound with such tender care that your head nods forwards and eyes close. It feels nice to be cared for, even just a little. It's selfish, but you can't help but love the small touches that came with the care specially tailored just for you.

"there."

He gives you a small tap on the back, signaling that he finished, and steps back to look at his handiwork.

"Thanks."

"anytime. that looks pretty bad."

You sit on the closed toilet lid and look up at Sans with a small grin.

"Loox...hehe..."

"you making a pun."

You nod with a weak smile. He sits on the edge of the tub and leans over his knees with the most discouraging look you've ever seen.

"you uh...might hit reset, huh...?"

You nod meekly.

He nods back, meekly.

And in that moment, he understand why he's begged you the last time to hit reset.

"welp. that is...for the best, huh?"

He rubs his face and sighs heavily. You understand him so much better now. You can't bring yourself to say it, but he knows. You two are broken with matching cracks.

"I guess."

You reply, shoulders hunched close.

"I just thought...that this time would be different, you know? But with Asriel gone...and Undyne...and Mettaton..."

"You thought you could save them all. Idiot. This isn't any different than when-"

"Chara's speaking to me again...so...I might have to go soon. Before they take control of me...I can't risk you or Papyrus getting hurt. I almost hurt Alphys and Mettaton."

His pupils go missing as he looks over at you. You brave looking back up at him and smile.

"It's under control for now, though."

"whatever you say, kid. just don't hurt anyone."

Nodding, you watch as he shuffles out of the bathroom and the house goes quiet once again and you let your chin burrow deeply into your chest.

You hadn't meant to fall asleep, but when you wake up, you're tucked away neatly under a thick cover and the house is pleasantly smelling of food. Rubbing your eyes with your index fingers, you sit up and see the two brothers are still out for the count. Papyrus looks worse now, asleep, than when he did awake. Quietly, you shove the covers off of your body, shivering. The next thing you notice is quiet mutterings from around you. It's dark, but you notice things scurrying about.

"It's Frisk..."

"The human?"

"The human is awake..."

"Someone should tell the king and queen-"

Something hits your knees and you fly backwards into the couch once more. Looking down, you notice the armless saurian kid and your heart flutters to life.

"You're safe!"

"You're alive!"

You exchange hugs and he sobs into your shirt. You pet his head a few times and then sling the covers around his shoulders.

"I'll be right back."

You whisper to him. The only person who could cook like this was...

You stick your head into the kitchen and see Toriel standing over a tall pot. She looks...fine. Safe. Asgore is seated at the table with a wet cloth pressed to his head. It's bleeding.

"Mom..?"

Her eyes, downcast and thoughtful, immediately shifts to surprised and gleeful. She flies from the pot and you're scooped up in her arms.

"I was so worried! Sans texted me where you all were, so we brought everyone else, and...and...oh, my child...I am so relieved...!"

You bury your face in her neck and hug her as tightly as you possibly could. Your shoulder dampens with her tears, but you can't bring yourself to cry again. It takes too much energy; none of which you really have right now. Just enough to cling onto your mother.

"Where is Asriel?"

She pulls away and asks you. And you're dumbfounded. Looking away, you squirm out of her arms and purse your lips again. Now you had to tell the family that they lost their son. Again.

"He...ran away...I went looking for him, but the snow...and now..."

You heave a sigh. It's no use. There was no excuse for losing him, was there? It was YOUR fault.

"See? Even you know it's your fault."

"I'm sorry..."

"I'll look for him, Toriel."

"No you will not."

Toriel shoots back to Asgore. Her eyes are hardened towards him once more. Maybe he did something again? Maybe she's just tired of all of this. Who the hell knows anymore?  
Noticing Sans's coat hanging off a chair, you move to shrug it back onto your body and keep the cold away. If anything, it held just enough magic to keep your spirits strong.

"Smells good in here."

A vain attempt to change the topic. Toriel appreciates it though and smiles.

"Thank you, Frisk. I'm trying to make enough food for everyone. We have a full house. We saved who we could, but now it means providing for them. It is no problem, but there are many mouths."

You approach the pot and stand on your tippy toes to try and get a look inside. Chuckling, she grabs a bowl and scoops in what you see to be chili. It looks delicious. When she hands you the bowl, you stomach gives a hungry growl. You don't even wait for her to give you a spoon. You tip the edge of the bowl into your mouth and greedily eat at it. Now, even if everything was going to hell in a hand basket, mom's home cooked meals was enough to lift your spirits tenfold.

"So good..."

Your stomach isn't growling anymore, but you're still hungry. You can't let her know that, though. The rest is for everyone else. She leans down and presses a kiss to the top of your head and smiles.

"I'll round everyone up if it's ready, then."

Asgore volunteers and gets up from the table woozily. Toriel's reaction to pushing him back down is enough for you to realize that she's more worried about him than she's letting on.

"Frisk? could you get them, dear?"

She cups your face with a giant, fluffy hand, and you lean into it and allow her to caress your cheek with her thumb.

"Yeah."

Setting down your bowl, you return to the living room and begin ushering the monsters to gather round for food in the kitchen. They were all scared to the point where they kept their voices below whispering levels and getting up made as much noise as a stone skipping across water. Standing in the complete darkness, you watch as Toriel begins serving her chili. She's a queen: standing tall and proud and with enough warmth to share to every single monster that came to her for a scoop of something warm for their bellies. She was a force to be reckoned with and revered. A Queen.

"alphys texted me earlier."

Your arms cross as you listen to Sans from behind you. He's slowly waking up, but you can tell the fatigue is pretty real.

"and caught on camera that asriel was headed up mt ebott. i can try and get you close again. there's no pollen in here."

You don't even need to turn to him to realize that his eye is active. The taste is so thick in the air that you almost choke on it. When you do turn to look at him, his hand is already outstretched towards you. Flinching back a bit, the warm air around you rushes away in a vacuuming motion and is replaced by cold air.

You're disoriented for only a moment, but instantly recognize the city below. You're on the mountain.

Looking over at Sans, wanting to thank him, you realize the fatal mistake he's made. Surrounding you are hundreds upon thousands of little golden flowers. The air, once filled with blue magic, is replaced by the suffocating spores of the golden flowers.

"Sans!"

"uh oh..."

He tries to cover his mouth and nose, but it's already too late. Before you can watch what's about to happen to him, his magic seizes hold of you and sends you careening backwards into the familiar abyss of the Underground. The last thing you see is an outburst of blue magic and his screams echoing down the hole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End is Nigh.


	16. Golden Slumbers: The End

A gentle breeze awakens you. Bright light greets you as your eyes pry open. Spores dance about the area like dust motes; and golden flowers are crushed under your weight.

It broke your fall yet again, but you wish that it hadn't.

"Frisk..? Are...you awake..?"

Asriel.

Your eyes snap wide and you're on your feet and darting towards the voice. Asriel looks small and scared. But you don't stop. You hate him so much right now. Everyone was changing, and Sans...Sans..!

"Frisk, stop-"

"I'M NOT FRISK."

Your fist connects with Asriel's snout and vines gather around you to hold you back. Yelling, you thrash around violently and your knife slips out of your pocket and clatters to the ground. You stop momentarily to look at it, and then up at Asriel. Fear is embedded in his eyes. And you yell at his face. Not Chara. You. Frisk. Your throat grows raw with the intensity. He covers his face with both hands and balls up on the ground. When you stop, you hang your head and sob. The vines retract from around you and you cover your face with both your hands.

"I HATE YOU."

You don't. But you feel the need to tell him anyways.

"I'm so tired, Asriel...you're the only one who can stop this...and you won't! You coward!"

You raise your hand and bring it down on his cheek. His eyes widen, but he doesn't look too upset about it. Almost as if he felt like he deserved it.

"You c-coward!" Your voice cracks again, "I know you can do it, Asriel! You have to try! Or I have to force you! Please don't make me do that...Asriel, you're my brother!"

You try and reach him, but he covers his eyes with his ears and continues sobbing. You stand and push him over onto the ground, tears streaking your face. He makes no attempt to move. Fear paralyzes him.

"If you can't do it, let Flowey do it!"

You'll endure it.

Still, he doesn't make a move. But you know better. You know how Flowey operates. Leaning over, you gingerly pick up the knife and clench it in your hands. Finally, he notices you, and backs away into the vines. His arm outstretches to you, as if he's begging you to stop, but no words ever form on his lips. Gnashing your teeth, you run towards him and feel your heart sink deeply into the bottom of your chest. If he doesn't avoid this...

"Ah ha!"

The knife drives downwards, with all the force that Chara can muster, and tears open Asriel's arm. It takes a moment for him to react, but when he does, it isn't Asriel.

"Idiot, idiot, IDIOT!"

Looking around, Chara couldn't help but grin as the vines closed in around the two of them.

"Just like old times! Remember-"

Cut short, Chara dodged a tendril shooting towards them and sliced it the moment they saw an opening. You, in the back seat, surveyed the situation. Come what may, the more that Asriel...Flowey...used their power, the more they would draw from their resources around them. The magic was connected. And if Chara got to dance the same old dance that they so loved? They were free to do so. At least here, the only person in real danger of dying was you. Asriel was stronger than you, and you knew that. You held the power of determination, but that was only useful if you never gave up. And you gladly would if it meant bringing back your friends.

Flowey let out an aggravated roar and held his arms out before him, shooting the tendrils out your way once more. Chara dodged them once more; hacking and slicing away with childlike glee. But you observed. The walls began to move-to pulsate to life. It was almost disgusting. They were reacting to the need to kill you and serve Flowey. The blooms, you remember Asriel telling you, were alive. And from feeling their very life force being sucked out of them made them wail in disharmony. You hated it. Chara was fueled by it. Laughing, they dashed towards Flowey once more and dodged out of the way of friendliness pellets; they colliding with the vine wall behind you. Recoiling in pain, the vines wailed once more and congregated even more tightly in the area.

"Come on, Asriel! I know you're better than that!"

Chara tossed the knife from hand to hand, itching to strike a blow again. Taunting Flowey was not a good idea. Pellets amassed all around them until you could barely see the wall behind Asriel anymore. Gulping, you were unsure if your body could withstand this sort of pain, and so you let Chara do their thing.

The first hail seemed easy enough to skip and prance around, but it's when the vines began tangling around your feet and grasping at your ankles did Chara stumble and fall. Then the pellets hit. At first the pain doesn't even register; but it's when the vines begin tightening around your midsection that you begin to yell. Chara yells. Chara's knife is quick and slices off large chunks of vines. The magic dies off, dust flittering through the air, and you're freed up. Panting, Chara growing weak, you notice that the vines are retracting further from the corridors and hole. It was working, wasn't it?

You smile. Frisk smiles. Even though Chara isn't. Chara is slowly getting tired. A fear washes over you that you didn't know you had. What if Chara switched with you and refused to come back out?

"Shut up and let me focus!"

Chara is pissed. Off. You do. So you listen and watch, still, feeling pain building up from within.

Chara's breathing raggedly. You're both determined. For different things, but determined nonetheless.

Chara saves. For some reason, you forgot that you even could in a timeline. You took for granted that you were untouchable and that if something went wrong, it'd be an instant reset.

But saving meant that Chara feared dying.

With good reason, your body was beginning to fail miserably on you.

Chara dashes forwards and, without even landing a hit, is knocked back by a bright surges of multi-colored lights. Bracing for the worst, trying to avoid as much damage as possible, you know that the onslaught of magic attacks are far from over.

The rainbow colored fire tears at your skin, singing your hair, fraying Sans's coat, and forces you into the ground.

Still, you remain determined. Chara's presence in your mind begins to dim, and you begin to regain control over yourself. The pain is almost too much to bear with. It grounds you and knocks the wind straight out of you. How Chara was putting up with their half of the pain was beyond you.

"I CAN STILL FIGHT. I'LL TEAR HIM APART, THE STUPID IDIOT."

Chara's furious. They push you aside once more and take over all your pain once again. Yelling, they dash towards Asriel once again to see him beginning to morph into his stronger form. It stops Chara dead in their tracks and watch as their soul began fighting over for control.

Vines wither and break off from the surface of the hole and tumble down unceremoniously around you before scattering into dust.

"F-FRIIIIIISK..."

It's Asriel's voice mixed with Flowey's. They're fighting for control more than you realize. Golden petals scatter up from behind you as you kick off to race towards them. Those, too, began to change from a vibrant yellow to grey, and then dust.

"ASRIEL YOU CAN DO IT! FIGHT IT!"

Chara was weakened. Their presence began ever so slowly to retract from your conscience. Maybe this was the opportunistic time to rid yourself of them-

"SHUT YOUR STUPID MOUTH!"

Your eyes widen as a bright, golden light surges forth from Asriel's hands and zeroes in on you. And the last thing you see is Asriel's face scrunched up in trial, eyes shut, and tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

"I did it, Frisk!"  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The room is dark. Nothing in here hurts. Everything is just...quiet. Chara...Flowey...they aren't present. It's only you and Asriel.

"Hey..."

Asriel's hands find their way into yours and he presses his forehead to your forehead. Smiling, you rest your weight against his and sigh.

"So it's over?"

"I think so."

"Good."

You stay like that for a while. It feels like it's been too long since you've had the chance to enjoy your friend, and the time you share right now is the most precious you've ever had.

"I'm sorry I hurt you."

"You? You barely touched me!"

Asriel protested, laughing as he nuzzles closer followed by a tight hug. When you two pull away, bodies slackened and exhausted, he grasps onto your hands again and smiles.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen...but thank you, for fixing it."

Your smile broadens and you laugh. It feels so nice to share this moment.

"Anything for my bro."

"We should wake up now, though. Don't you think?"

You nod and run your hand through the fur on the top of his head. It's soft and plush and reminds you of Toriel.

"Only if it's really over. Otherwise I think I'm okay staying here for a little while."

This time, it's Asriel who shakes his head.

"We can't stay. This place is the limit. You know, when souls are about to die? That moment where they exit the body and turn to dust? Our determination...Flowey's and Chara's? It's keeping us here. We're using them, now, instead of the other way around."

"Why?"

"Because I'm pretty frickin' strong."

He smiles, showing all his teeth, and gives you a final hug.

"I'll see you on the other side, Frisk."

"Alright. I love you."

His eyes soften as his body begins to fade, and he waves.

"Love you, too."

Sans's bloodied and battered coat feels heavy on your skin. You're not quite up to opening your eyes yet. You're alive. For the moment, you just want to relish that fact. Your breath is ragged, and you feel every bruise and cracked bone in your body, but you're alive. Better yet, your mind is your own. For the first time in a long time, Chara's voice is absent.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
When you finally do decide to open your eyes, you notice golden petals gently floating down from the sky. Where they came from, you're not sure, but the sight of that in and of itself is enough to bring tears to your eyes.

Turning your head to the side, flowers surrounding you, you see Asriel some three feet away from you on the ground. His chin is dug into the ground, and his arm is laid out before him towards you as if he spent himself merely trying to save your soul. Gently, you bring your arm up from beside you and slide your hand under his and take hold of it. Giving it a soft squeeze, his eyes open and he flashes you his renown grin. You return the favor and, upon the sight of it, he begins giggling.

"Your tooth is missing."

He points out. Your eyebrows raise and tongue searches for the missing tooth. Sure enough, one of your canines had been knocked clean out. You smile anyway, earning another bout of small giggles.

"Can you move?"

You ask him. He tries and yelps in pain.

"Nope...you?"

You go to try. First your other arm. Then you wiggle your toes. Then your leg-

"ARGH."

Your leg cracks a few times and that alone answers Asriel's question. Grimacing, he drags himself forward using his arm and places his head right under your arm.

"Sorry..."

"Don't worry..."

You adjust your arm around him as best as you can and feel your breathing even out. Looking down, you see Asriel close his eyes and rest a bit. You don't want to. The flowers and vines missing fill you with hope. Maybe things actually worked out, this time. Maybe everything was going to be alright, after all...

Your eyes slide shut and you hug Asriel closer to you.

Yeah. Every reset was worth it.

"THEY'RE DOWN THERE!"

Voices echo from above. You can't quite place who it belongs to because it's so far away. You're found, now. Whatever happens next, you'll deal with when you're rested. All that mattered in this moment was your victory.

Your mouth fills with a heady taste. You recognize it, you think. You're unsure. Your mind's growing foggy with fatigue. When the ground leaves you, you barely remember to cling onto your charge. An eternity seems to pass, but it's just enough for you to be reminded that the magic is familiar. It's Sans. Sans...

You open your eyes once again, tired, and you find yourself and Asriel coated in a blue and orange aura. Papyrus was there, too. You were safe now. The two of you. And

Sans was safe. He had to be.

"i've got you, kid...god...what a mess..."

"Papyrus, be steady, it's going to be alright."

Asgore's voice is soft yet firm. The kind that made people ease up instantly.

"RIGHT!"

Asriel leaves your arms via magic, and you end up laid out on the snow. You breathe a sigh of relief and your eyelids pry apart one at a time. Sans is there. He's...him. He's not contorted. He's not gone berserk anymore. He's speaking to you, but the words don't register. Running up the mountainside is Undyne and Mettaton. Alphys is trying to keep up, but she's there too. They look so utterly battered that you're surprised they can run at all.

A small smile escapes your bloodied up lips.

You did it...  
\-------------------------------------------------  
Returning to normal life was a trial in and of itself. Clean up was horrendous. Asgore, Undyne, and Papyrus would have their work cut out for them in trying to convince people that monsters could still be trusted. Even if the kill-count for both humans and monsters were well into the hundreds.

"You were very brave."

Toriel brushes your hair out of your face as you lay against her arm. On her lap is a sleeping Asriel. She had healed you well enough so that you stopped bleeding, and since hospitals and all other care were filled up with people already, there was no way your family was going to allow you to get lost within the halls and let you out of their sights.

"Sans is still upset over his jacket..."

You muse, watching him sleep in the couch across from you. He's exhausted as well. He had every right. You weren't too sure what happened to him after he inhaled the pollen, but you knew better than to ask. Even Undyne would never admit to what happened to her, even after you saw her change before your very eyes.

"I'll stitch him a new one. I think you deserve every right to keep this one as a trophy."

You let out a single laugh and nod, snuggling closer to her arm. She caresses the side of your face with a finger and watches as the news still goes on about death tolls and how all the vines and blooms had disappeared with only traces of dust.

"Do you want me to change channel?"

"you should put something less depressing...i think the kid knows by now exactly what happened."

Sans peeks open and eye and it falls onto you, lazily. Toriel takes notice and gently places Asriel off to the other side of her and you pry yourself away from her arm. She changed the station to a children's Christmas movie and excuses herself from the room to prepare a meal. Sans keeps a trained eye on you until Toriel is out of earshot and then, for the first time in what felt like eons, he smiles what seems to be a genuine smile.

"proud of you, bucko."

"Thanks, Sans." You rest your head on the side of the couch, groaning as you do so. Asriel really did a number on you.

"i mean it. you didn't even reset."

"No...but Chara saved...we almost reloaded."

He shrugs.

"better than a reset. who cares. we're all alive. you actually did it, squirt."

You nod. Above everything, after all you've gone through, you understand Sans a lot more than you ever thought possible.

"Chara is gone."

"great."

"Yeah...it's...quiet."

His other eye opens.

"miss it?"

You shake your head. You enjoy the silence again. You don't feel the murderous intent in the back of your mind.

"good. keep it that way...and...frisk?"

Your eyes start sliding closed, but you force them open again.

"thanks."

"I'm tired of resets, too, Sans...this is the last time. I swear."

Sans closes his eyes and breaths a sigh of relief. You do the same, your body melting into the warmth of the couch.

"thank god..."

Rest came easy. All the sins you bore around your neck, shackled and begging for atonement, eased away from you. You were free from the burdens of what lingered after you left the Underground. All you had left, now, was to look forwards to tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That is the end, folks! Thank you so much for sticking around and reaching this point! -throws confetti- this was a lot of fun to write! I mean a TON of fun! I don't think I'll be writing another HUGE story like this one for a while, but one-shots will be happening (and already have), so keep your eyes peeled like a banana. Lots of love to you guys, and I really mean it. I didn't expect so much support from the fanbase. THANK YOU!


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